My Everyday Life

St. Therese the Little Flower

2011-10-16T20:56:00.008-05:00

This is a talk that I did this past weekend at our Acts Day retreat at our parish. It is on St. Therese the Little Flower.

When I was asked to do a talk on a Saint or a women in the Bible I was very excited to do so. In my mind I kept going over who I could write about. There were a few women that I had in mind. And after thinking about it for a while I just felt that I needed to write about St. Therese. But before I begin I want to share how I came to know her. During my conversion from the protestant church I felt God leading me to read about her. So I would like to give a little background on how I got to know her. And this is how God led me.......

It all started when my Dad remarried in 1999 after my parents divorced when I was 26. And he remarried a Catholic. My Step Mom would be the first Catholic that I would met in my life. I had never been around any Catholic until then. Little did I know that this was one of the first ways God was leading me to the Catholic church. But I did not know it at the time.

In December of 2008 I was talking to my Step-Mom and told about some of bible studies I was taking at the Catholic Church. She told me she wanted to give me something. She left the room and came back with this little red bag with a red rosary in it. I took it out and looked at it. I thought it was very pretty. She really did not explain to me what a rosary was other than she said that she wanted me to have it. I put it back in the little red bag and took it home with me. When I got home with it I just kind of put it away. Because I not thinking at the time God was leading me to be Catholic.

In September of 2009 my friend invited me to come here to watch the movie about St. Theresa. And I became very intrigued with her. After I got home something told me to get that rosary out that my step-mom had given me. When I took out the rosary I realized that it was a St. Therese rosary. So I thought that was kind of odd. I was so intrigued with her I wanted to know more about her. I took out a book that I had on women saints and looked up her saint day which was October 1st.

While I was reading about her I was questioning whether or not there were saints in heaven who pray for us. I am not sure if I believed it was real. Coming from a protestant background I was never taught this. This was uncharted territory for me. When I got to the middle of the page while reading about her there was a scripture. Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." I thought to myself that was interesting. That was a scripture God had been giving me over and over. While reading on it said that she was also send you Roses as a sign of intercession in heaven. So I was not quite sure I believed that. Could she really send me roses from heaven? So I prayed the prayer of intercession that was written in the book. Then I asked God if it was true that she would send Roses as a sign of her intercession.

Immediately after I prayed that I picked up the Word Among Us to read that I had also bought that day. But I did not pay attention to the front cover of the book when I bought it. On the front cover it had a story of a women who received roses when she asked St. Therese to intercede for her. I read the story and thought maybe just a coincidence.

The next day while I was checking my email I noticed I had and email from eBay about an item that I had looked at. It had now been re listed. I had been looking at a Jesus and Mary enamel medallions on eBay a couple weeks prior. But did not by them then. So I thought about it and decided to buy them because they were very pretty. For some reason I had not paid attention to the name of the store I was buying them from. When I placed the order the confirmation came back "A little bit of heaven is coming your way from raining roses" The name of the store was raining roses. I just did not know quite what to think. I just kept getting messages about roses in words. Then on October 1st a few days later I went to go see my chiropractor. And he always has some kind of quote on the board when you go in. Well when I went in the quote was "You can complain that roses have thorns or you can rejoice that thorns have roses." I knew then it was not a coincidence because it was her Saint day. So I felt in my heart that she was indeed letting me know she does send roses and this is all very real. And when I was confirmed Catholic of course I chose her to be my saint name. I have felt close to her ever since.

When reading about her I just love the little way she loved people. Sometimes the littlest things make the biggest difference. I think her strength was knowing that she was weak. I found an article on her about her autobiography. At the beginning of the article it said "Quite often, when pondering the lives of the saints we hear of great miracles (ecstasies, healings, levitations, etc) It is rare that we hear of a saint's faults and weaknesses. Sometimes we need to hear about these in order to be able to relate to them; to realize that they were "earthen vessels" like the rest of us. One of Saint Therese's weakness was distraction at prayer. However, this did not keep her from trudging along her "little way". In her autobiography and letters, Saint Therese faithfully acknowledged her weakness to God, trusting His infinite Mercy to forgive.

We all have strengths and weakness. And sometimes it is hard to look past our faults and weaknesses. But be reassured that even the most saintly people had their weaknesses. St. Therese had many struggles. One of her biggest struggles was being diagnosed with tuberculosis. But I really felt while praying for this talk I was to focus my attention on her weakness in prayer. And it is something I know we all struggle within our busy, hectic lives.

In her autobiography "The Story of a Soul" she admits to having difficulty reciting the rosary. In her own words she writes "When I am alone (I am ashamed to admit it) the recitation of the rosary is more difficult for me than wearing of an instrument of penance. I force myself in vain to meditate on the mysteries of the rosary. For a long time I was desolate about this lack of devotion which astonished me, for I love the Blessed Virgin so much that it should be easy for me to recite in her honor prayers which are so pleasing to her. Now I am less desolate; I think that the Queen of heaven, since she is my MOTHER, must see my good will and she is satisfied with it. Sometimes when my mind is in such aridity that it is impossible to draw forth one single thought to unite me with God, I very slowly recite an "Our Father" and then the angelic salutation "Hail Mary, full of grace" then these prayers give me great delight; they nourish my soul much more than if I had recited them in a hurry a hundred times."

She also says in her book "I do not have the courage to force myself to search out beautiful prayers in books. There are so many of them it really gives me a headache! And each prayer is more beautiful than the others. I cannot recite them all and not knowing which one to choose, I do like children who do not know how to read, I say very simply to God what I wish to say, without composing beautiful sentences, and He always understands me. For me Prayer is an aspiration of the heart, it is a simple glance directed to heaven, it is a cry of gratitude and love in the midst of trial as well as joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus."

So it makes me feel better knowing that she too struggled with prayer and she was a saint! I have quoted her a lot but I just found that I really wanted to convey her heart. That she too was human and weak at times. And yet God used all of her weakness for His Glory. In 2 Corinthians 12:10 the apostle Paul says "Therefore, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and constraints, for the sake of Christ; for when I am weak, then I am strong."

No matter what weakness you think you may have, no matter what inadequacies or setbacks you've encountered, God wants to give you his divine strength. He wants to make up the difference.

St. Therese also struggled with charity. One of the stories she writes in her book is about a Sister who had a strange habit. I found the story quite funny and inspiring. She says "The practice of charity, as I have said was not always so sweet for me, and to prove it to you I am going to recount certain little struggles which will certainly make you smile. For a long time at evening meditation, I was placed in front of a Sister who had a strange habit. This is what I noticed: as soon as this Sister arrived, she began making a strange little noise which resembled the noise one would make when rubbing two shells, one against the other. I was the only one to notice it because I had extremely sensitive hearing(too much at times). It would be impossible for me to tell you how much this little noise wearied me. I had a great desire to turn my head and stare at the culprit who was very certainly unaware of her "click". This would be the only way of enlightening her. However, in the bottom of my heart I felt it was much better to suffer this out of love for God and not to cause the Sister any pain. I remained calm, therefore, and tried to unite myself to God and to forget the little noise. Everything was useless. I felt the perspiration inundate me, and I was obliged simply to make a prayer of doing it without annoyance and with peace and joy, at least in the interior of my soul. I tried to love the little noise which was so displeasing; instead of trying not to hear it (impossible), I paid close attention so as to hear it well, as though it were a delightful concert, and my prayer (which was not the Prayer of the quiet) was spent in offering this concert to Jesus."

And I know at the retreat you will be dealing with people snoring and you may not get the sleep you need. So why not turn in the snores in to a concert to Jesus and offer as a prayer.

I thought it was absolutely amazing about her. To take something that bothered her so much to offer it as a concert to Jesus. Sometimes it is hard to love other people and their habits. But she shows us how she turned her weakness in charity into something so beautiful. And it ended up Glorifying our Lord.

Saints are so extraordinary because their struggles are so ordinary. It is their faithfulness that set them apart. A faithfulness that witnesses to the power of God. Her strength was in Jesus Christ. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He loved her. He loved her till the very end. She had an unwavering faith. She trusted in the sacred heart of Jesus. She offered Jesus the storms, trials and the weakness of her life and God turned them into rainbows as a sign to all of us. She colored the sky with rays of hope for all of us. She left behind a legacy. A legacy to always trust Jesus as a child.

Matthew 18:3 "Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven."

I have often wondered why God lead me to St. Therese. Then while reading about her I came across this statement by Pere Jean-Baptiste Muard he said "It is not we who choose this saint or that saint to be our friend; it is, rather, the saints who choose those whom they wish to befriend. The saints choose us, and this, in light of God's wisdom and providence."

I thought this was an amazing statement because recently when Danielle Rose was here for her concert she had given us the name of a saint that wanted to be our friend for the year. Pieces of paper were just passed out randomly with a saint name on it and a little something about them. I was given St. Clare of Assisi. Father Bob had just blessed her statue that day at the mass prior to the concert. I felt this was no accident. I really feel she wants to be my friend. And I am excited to get to know her as well and as to why she wants to be my friend.

So maybe St. Therese really wants to be your friend today to help you with your weaknesses by letting us see her weaknesses. So do not be afraid of your weakness because God wants show you His strength through them and then God will be glorified. In reality your weakness is what God uses to become your strengths. God has done it in my own life. There are area's in my life that I struggle with. As a nurse I never wanted to work with children. Honestly they scared me. I do not have children yet. And I just did not know what to do with them when I was around them. So I never wanted to work in pediatrics. I avoided it at all cost. Well God has a sense of humor. Two years ago he directed me to go work with children at a place for abused children. And now I am in my second year working as a school nurse with elementary children. This was one of my greatest weaknesses. But now I love being around them. And I am no longer afraid of them. I feel he is turning on of my greatest weaknesses into my greatest strength. But I had to allow God to do this work in me. It was not easy. But when I felt God directing to work with children I did not have the heart to tell Him no. And I think he was wanting to teach me something through them. Well In the past two years I have learned a lot. Even though I have had times where I did not think I was going to make it through it. I have felt overwhelmed at times with all that God has done in my life. Converting to the Catholic Church was not at all easy for me. I have been completely overwhelmed at times. And when God directed me to work with children 3 years ago it was a bit overwhelming for me. But I knew God was calling me to work with children. I just kept coming to Him telling Him all my weaknesses. And even when I did give up at one point He helped me back up again. Psalm 145:14"The Lord upholds all those [of His own] who are falling and raises up all those who are bowed down." Yes, I did give up at one point. I told God it was just too hard and I am not the person for this. I told Him you got the wrong girl for this. Well He won’t let me give up so easily. "He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength." (Isaiah 40:29)

He wants us to come to Him with our weaknesses. He does not want us to be afraid to admit when we are weak. The Lord knows our weaknesses, He is mindful that we are but dust and ashes. Do you feel drained? Exhausted? Ask God for help. Depend on Him for the power to go on and the strength to make it through the valley. When circumstances overwhelm and seem to much to bear, Depend upon the Lord for strength and trust His tender care.

So don't be afraid if God is wanting you to do something that you feel you can't do. You may end up surprised that it will become your greatest strength.

I also played this song at the end of my talk. I feel God sent St. Therese to me to help me. He knew I was going to need help when I converted to the Catholic Church. And maybe God wants to you to know that help is on the way. Just like He sent St. Therese to help me and to intercede for me He will send someone to help you. Help is on the way..... by Micheal W. Smith

In the Silence of the heart You Speak

2011-09-28T22:30:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Danielle Rose came to our parish for a wonderful concert. She is a beautiful Catholic singer. She sings like an Angel. Her music is very deep. And her most of her songs were written while in adoration in front of the Blessed Sacrament. I was greatly moved by her music. And this song In the Silence was one of my favorites.

2011-07-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday After leaving Daily Mass I got in my car and this song was playing- Divine Romance by Phil Wickham. It just seemed so perfect for that song to be on. I do feel like I am in a Divine Romance with my Lord being able to receive Him. He is like a deep deep flood in me when I receive Him in the Eucharist. He gives me strength and so much Love. And in His presence I am completely satisfied. So I thought I would share this song.

2011-07-07T20:21:00.000-05:00

This past June I did a bible study at my parish on the book Fire Within. It is written by Fr. Thomas Dubay. This is a book on the writings of St. Teresa of Avila and St. John the Cross. I have tried to read the writings of St. Teresa before but I felt some of it was over my head. This book really helps to understand both of their writings. I have very much enjoyed reading this book. We will start the bible study back up in September to finish the book. We only went through the first four chapters.
I highly recommend this book. I love reading about the saints. Since I have become Catholic I have just become a bookworm. Well I was a bookworm before that but now even more.

The power of prayer

2011-07-06T14:56:00.002-05:00

Some time ago I found this definition of prayer and it just struck me as one of the most beautiful defintions I have ever heard.

One should never underestimate the power of prayer as a response to situations in our lives. To use a simple definition, prayer is our love joined to God's love, and that love visits the person for whom we are praying. Even if people do not know that we are praying for them, the power of prayer is still communicated at a spiritual level. We often sense that something is happening even when no words are spoken (e.g., when someone is angry at us, or when something painful has happened to a loved one). This is the level at which prayers have their effect. Even if we never tell the loved one that we are praying for him or her, that person senses it at a profound level. We are embracing that person in our love and God's love and love always brings healing.

Our prayer and God's mercy are like two buckets in a well; while the one ascends, the other descends.

A Time for Everything

2011-06-21T16:04:00.006-05:00

After my second trip to the Dominican Republic I felt God leading me to sponsor a child in the Dominican Republic. I was going to sponsor a little boy but they told me he had just gotten sponsored. So they told me that this little girl named Heidy needed a sponsor. So I sponsored her.
After sponsoring her I found out that she was really sick. She had a bad skin infection on her arm. They thought that she may lose her arm. So with the help of God I was able to get her the medicine that she needed. And had it sent down there with the next mission trip team that was headed there the next week. Her arm healed and she regained use of her arm. It was a miracle in itself. All of the circumstances surrounding the timing that I sponsored her. God knew she needed medicine.

Every time I have gone to the Dominican I have gotten to spend time with her and her family. I was able to eat with her in her two room home with her family. And go to church with her. I had grown attached to her. She was a very shy, sweet and very pretty.
Over the last six months she developed a lung infection. Possibly pneumonia. She had been in out of the hospital. When I was down there in March I was able to see her. I was so glad to see her. When I saw her my heart went out to her and tears welled up inside of me. I had been praying that she would be healed of this lung infection. And she seemed to be doing much better. I gave her a big hug. And her Mom also. I got to spend a little bit of time with her there. And I was so grateful for that time. Because little did I know it would be the last time I got to see her. Soon after I got back from the Dominican she relapsed. They put her in the hospital. A children's charity hospital. With limited medical care. Everyone was praying for her. And she started to do better. She started to respond to the medication they were giving her but it was only for a couple of days. On June 14th I got a knock at my door. It was someone from the children's home where I sponsored her through. I knew before the lady opened her mouth she was there to tell me she did not make it. I was so sad and my heart sunk. I really thought she would make it. I did not know what to think or say. I felt so sorry for her mother. Her mother was just a sweet. They both have a sweet spirit about them.

On the day that Heidy went to be with the Lord I sent an email to one of the people from the children's home who is in the Dominican right now. In that email I spoke about the scipture in Ecclesiastes 3 which says:

A Time for Everything

1 There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

Later that day my husband and I were in Mardels. I had told him I was wanting a new desktop calender. They had a whole rack of them. So many it was hard to chose one. But then he picked up the one by Stormie Omartian - The Power of a Praying Wife. He turned to that days reading June 14th and the what it said could of only been from God to me.

It said:

Remember that even though we pray and have faith, the outcome and timing are God's decisions. He said there is "a time to heal" (Ecclesiastes 3:3). If you pray for healing and nothing happens, don't beat yourself up about it. God sometimes uses a man's physical ailments to get his attention so He can speak to him. Keep praying, but know God's decision is the bottom line.

In this devotional she put the same scripture the one I had put in the email earlier that day. So I know that God was speaking to me here. We don't always understand God's plan or His purposes but I know that He is in control. And God is still God even when we think our prayers are not answed in the way that we want. God knows best. Heidy was only 10 years old. And she was a precious little girl. I know she is in the arms of Jesus now. And I will miss her.

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

A Place of Solitude

2011-06-13T22:38:00.010-05:00

Recently my cell stopped working. I have one of those smart phones and I was so excited to get it. I could do most everything on my phone. I had downloaded several apps on the phone. But a couple of months ago I started to notice my phone getting stuck. It would just freeze up. Eventually it started to work again. But this last week it started to do the same thing. But this time it would not come back on. It was just stuck. So I told my husband about it. And he determined that I had too many apps on my phone and that was why it was freezing up. All my apps were overloading the system. So he told me the only thing he could do was to set it back to the original factory settings and I would lose everything I had put on there. So I agreed to let him put it back to the factory settings.
I think sometimes in life we get this way. We have to many apps in our life. Too many distractions. And sometimes God calls us to go back to factory settings. To a place of solitude with Him. We get so much stuff in our life that we get stuck and nothing works. And sometimes God has to reset us. That is where I have been the last six months. And God has taken things out of my life. He has taken certain people out of my life. And for a while I was wondering what was going on. There are seasons I think that God will do this with us. Where God is wanting to draw us closer to Him. And we can't do that with everything else competing for our attention. So here I am. I really have not much contact with any of my friends. Only just a couple have I seen from time to time. But I feel it is a time to draw back. A time to go back to factory settings and focus on God alone. That is what I will be doing this summer. I need to get some priorities strait. Get things in order with God. And draw closer to Him. So I feel I have been officially set to factory settings. And I am not allowed to add anything else to my life right now.

Be Still and Know that I am God

2011-05-27T16:29:00.010-05:00

Have you been going trials lately and you wonder what is going on in your life? And questioning why are all these things happening to you? I sure have. It seems for a while now especially the last six months it has been one trial after another. I keep thinking when is it going to end? I have keep hearing "Be still and know that I am God for quite sometime know." And I have heard the words "let go" several times in the past couple of weeks. Today I read this devotional by David Wilkerson. It is on "Be still and know that I am God"

BE STILL AND KNOW

After the Word tells us that it is God who makes wars to cease, this is added: "Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10).

The Hebrew word for "still" is raphah, which means to cease; let alone; become weak, feeble. It is from the root rapha, which means to mend and be made thoroughly whole by the hand of a physician.

How thoroughly consistent the Word of God is. He makes wars to cease and until he finishes his work, we are to cease our self-righteous efforts, trust everything into his hands, confess our weaknesses and feebleness, and trust our future and restoration into the hands of Christ, our Great Physician.

Loving believer, is your inner conflict tearing you apart? You may be buffeted by Satan, but he cannot hurt or destroy you. Most likely you are being stripped down in preparation for a deeper revelation of the cross so you can be made ready for greater service for God.

You are like Peter, who was stripped of everything before going to Pentecost. See this great man of God wandering aimlessly over the Judean hills—at rock bottom. Peter once walked on water and helped feed multitudes miraculously. He experienced the actual glory of God and was a blessed, prominent, useful, Christ-loved servant. But he sinned grievously, failing the Lord as few others did, and afterward, he wept and grieved, thinking he had lost his salvation and his ministry.

"What is wrong with me?" he must have asked himself over and again. "Why did I have no power or strength when tempted? Why no moral reserves—no will to resist the enemy? Why did I have to be the one to fall? How could a man of God do such a horrendous thing to his Lord? How could I have preached to others when I have no power in a crisis?"

God did not cause Peter's failure, but great good came out of it. It was a part of the stripping of God's man—permitted to reveal what was rooted deep in the inner man. Only failure could expose the pride and self-sufficiency. Failure broke Peter down and revealed to him his need for absolute dependence on his Lord for everything, including his purity and righteousness.

It is in the shadow of the cross that we endure our greatest temptation and failures and then break through to resurrection!

Prophetic song by Matt Gilman

2011-04-22T13:03:00.000-05:00

God Sightings in the Dominican Republic

2011-03-26T17:49:00.022-05:00

This is a story of my Dominican Republic Mission Trip.
God brought me to the Dominican Republic four years ago to do medical missions. I am a nurse and this was my fourth trip. These are just my experiences there. And what God did in my life.

Before this trip I just happen to met up with some friends of mine at the used bookstore. I had went there to by some Spanish-English bibles to take down there. When I walked in I ran into a good friend of mine. We got to talking about my upcoming trip to the Dominican. We went to go sit down with some of his friends that were there also. Now God had put it in their hearts to by all the bibles I had wanted to buy. I had five bibles to take that I had found. And they paid for them. It was such a blessing. I never expected for God to put it in their hearts to pay for the bibles. I felt tears well up inside of me. What a blessing. Then one of the ladies that was there wanted to read a poem to me that she had wrote. I don't remember all the words she said but I do remember the last words of the poem. It was "Come follow me, I am yours and you are mine." I felt God at that moment very profoundly. I knew God was telling me to follow Him to the Dominican again. In my heart I had wanted confirmation that I was really suppose to go this time.

When I arrived to the Dominican we were given a devotional to do during the trip. Every time I have been to the Dominican they have given us a devotional and God always seems to have a word for me in there. Well this time is no different. When I opened the the first page of it there were the words "Follow Me and I will make you fish for people!" When I read the words "Follow Me" I knew this was God confirming to me once again that I was suppose to be there.

The first day there we started off with some devotional time. The lady giving the devotional spoke about how God had used Moses, Elijah and David in the bible. She wondered why God had chosen her to do what she does in the Dominican. A week before this trip I had went to see Joel Osteen. It was called a night of Hope. And in that message Joel talked about how all the great men and women of Faith where in the Grand stands cheering us on. He talked about Moses, Elijah, David and all the cast of characters through the old and new testament. He spoke about why God chose them. It was much the same message I was hearing in that first morning devotional in the Dominican. I think for me it was God confirming that it was Him calling me to the Dominican.

The next day at breakfast we had a devotional time. One of the Dentist that was with us read us a devotional. One of the scriptures that he talked about was Joshua 24:14-15 ¹⁴ “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. ¹⁵ But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

When I heard this scripture it really make me think about the things that I worship and put in front of God. And this scripture just also happen to be my reading in my daily bible that week also. So I really felt that God was telling me that there are still things in my life that I worship and put in front of God. And God was letting me know this. I also felt the fear of the Lord when I heard this scripture. There are things of the world that I need to give up. And I felt a sense that God was being serious with me. That this is not a game.

The next day the devotional was about fasting. The scripture that was read was Isaiah 58. It was about what we think fasting is and what God says fasting really is. We think fasting is fasting from food. And fasting from food is good and necessary. But God is saying here that fasting is to let the oppressed go free, to lose the chains of bondage, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. And this scripture was also in my readings for the week. It seemed all the devotionals we were having were lining up with all my readings in my bible and my magnificent. I felt God really telling me this is what He wants from us. This girl is 22 years old and had some kind of malnutrition disease or something else. Very, very sad. She weighed about 60 or so pounds I am guessing. She said she had accepted Christ two months ago.

¹ “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
      Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
   Tell my people Israel^[a] of their sins!
    ² Yet they act so pious!
   They come to the Temple every day
      and seem delighted to learn all about me.
   They act like a righteous nation
      that would never abandon the laws of its God.
   They ask me to take action on their behalf,
      pretending they want to be near me.
³ ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
      ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
   We have been very hard on ourselves,
      and you don’t even notice it!’

   “I will tell you why!” I respond.
      “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
   Even while you fast,
      you keep oppressing your workers.
⁴ What good is fasting
      when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
   This kind of fasting
      will never get you anywhere with me.
⁵ You humble yourselves
      by going through the motions of penance,
   bowing your heads
      like reeds bending in the wind.
   You dress in burlap
      and cover yourselves with ashes.
   Is this what you call fasting?
      Do you really think this will please the Lord?

⁶ “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
   Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
      lighten the burden of those who work for you.
   Let the oppressed go free,
      and remove the chains that bind people.
⁷ Share your food with the hungry,
      and give shelter to the homeless.
   Give clothes to those who need them,
      and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

⁸ “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
      and your wounds will quickly heal.
   Your godliness will lead you forward,
      and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
⁹ Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
      ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

   “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
      Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
¹⁰ Feed the hungry,
      and help those in trouble.
   Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
      and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
¹¹ The Lord will guide you continually,
      giving you water when you are dry
      and restoring your strength.
   You will be like a well-watered garden,
      like an ever-flowing spring.
¹² Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
      Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
      and a restorer of homes.

¹³ “Keep the Sabbath day holy.
      Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
   but enjoy the Sabbath
      and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
   Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
      and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
¹⁴ Then the Lord will be your delight.
      I will give you great honor
   and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
      I, the Lord, have spoken!”

And God had even more to say to me during this first week in the Dominican. He was especially speaking to me in the devotionals that we were having every morning. I have been to the Dominican four times now since 2007. And I have often wondered what it is that God has for me here. One of the other devotionals that was read was about the the Faith chapter in Hebrews 11. That particular morning I had a cup of coffee. This was before the devotional. On the mug I had picked it said "Oh hello there. My name is Faith. I always try to have a word of encouragement for my friends. My motto is: "I know you can't see it yet, but trust me, everything will turn out just fine. Have a great day." At that moment I felt God again saying "It's going to be okay. I know you have questions about why I brought you to the Dominican Republic but I can't answer you right now. Just have faith and trust me. Everything will turn out just fine."
So can God speak to you through a coffee mug? Well, yes He can and He did! I read this saying to everyone there that morning. I think some of them looked at me like God can't speak to you on a coffee mug. But that is how God talks to me in ways I never expect. Notice the Cross in the picture below. This was taken on one of the roads to one of the poorest communities I had been to. There was not much hope here. And God puts a Cross in my picture on this muddy road in this forgotten community. This is the community where the 22 year girl lives in the picture above that I spoke about. This is how God speaks to me. I felt He was saying "I died for these people! Do you not care? Speak to them, love them, and give them Hope."

I was reading my Magnificant the whole time I was there on my trip. One of the meditations was called "Sent to restore Order" And this meditation so spoke to me. It is because I know in my heart God wants me in the Dominican.
This is what the meditation said:
Sent to Restore Order
Had I come to Russia because I wanted it? No, I came because I was convinced God wanted me there. And my coming, my following of the will of God, had meant sacrifices. It had meant leaving behind my own country, the Jesuits I had known and worked with, my family and friends, and everything that had been familiar to me in the first thirty years of my life. In a word, it had meant breaking with all I had known and done before, in order to adapt myself to an entirely new, strange, difficult, and strenuous life of hardship in which to carry on an apostolate. It is the same sacrifice demanded of and made by so many people: missionaries, servicemen, married couples, young people leaving home for the first time. Such a sacrifice is the first test of any vocation, and calling to follow God's will. "In the head of the book it is written of me,"the prophets had said of Christ,"I come to do your will." That was to be the keynote of his life and of his vocation, and it was only in the light of that faithfulness to the Father's will through sacrifice and pain and suffering that one should hear Christ's words on the cross. "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit."
But why the passion? Why pain and suffering? Is God so vindictive that he must inflict pain and suffering on those who follow him? The answer lies not in God's will but in the world in which we live and try to follow his will. Christ's life and suffering were redemptive; his "apostolate" in the scheme of salvation was to restore the original order and harmony in all creation that had been destroyed by sin. His perfect obedience to the Father's will redeemed man's first and continuing disobedience to that will. "All creation," said Saint Paul,"groans and labors up till now,"awaiting Christ's redemptive efforts to restore the proper relationship between God an his creation.
Father Walter J. Ciszek, S.J.
I just felt God speaking to me in this Priest's word's. It seemed fitting to read these words while on a mission trip. This is the new Chapel that was built in the Haitian Community that we went to. They built it in two and half days. This is a picture with the pastor and his wife and children. I felt we were "restoring order" with the building of the new chapel for this community. I had a dream the night before we came to this community. I dreamed that I had burned my right hand. I had put a ice pack on it that was in the shape of a cross to soothe the the burns. When the Chapel was going up I just felt God saying "this chapel will soothe the wounds of the the people here." It was very hot there in the afternoon. And the only cool place was inside the chapel after the walls and roof went up."

On one Friday we took a trip up a high mountain in the Dominican. There was an orphanage at the top of this mountain that were going to go see. It was the most beautiful mountain I had ever been on. The only thing close to it was the mountains that I had seen in Austria. I had never seen such beautiful foliage before. It seemed the whole mountain was covered in the this bright line green foliage.

There were beautiful rivers and valley's. And there were small little villages in the valley's. I could not get enough of the beautiful scenery. And everyone on the bus just kept saying "how can you say there is no God when you see this." It was just breath taking! The air was cool and crisp. There was no need for an air conditioner. We actually had our jackets on. Which is unusual in the Dominican. On the way up the mountain I read this devotional from "God Calling" this is a devotional that I have been reading for quite sometime now. The devotional was just perfect while going up this beautiful mountain. This is what it said:

Seek Beauty
Draw beauty from every flower and Joy from the song of the birds, and the colour of the flowers. Drink in the Beauty of air and colour.
When I wanted to express a beautiful thought , I made a lovely flower. I have told you reflect. When I want to express to man what I am-What my Father is-I strive to make a very beautiful character. Think of yourselves as My expression of attributes, as a lovely flower is My expression of thought, and you will strive in all, in Spiritual beauty, in Thought-power, in Health, in clothing, to be as fit an expression for Me as you can.
Absorb Beauty. As soon as the beauty of a flower or a tree is impressed upon your soul it leaves an image there which reflects through your actions.

Remember that no thought of sin and suffering, of the approaching scorn and Crucifixion, ever prevented My seeing the beauty of the flowers.
Look for beauty and joy in the world around. Look at at flower until its beauty becomes part of your very soul. It will be given back to the world again by you in the form of a smile or a loving word or a kind thought or a prayer.

Listen to a bird. Take the song as a message from My Father. Let it sink into your soul. That too will be given back to the world in ways I have said. Laugh more, laugh often. Love more. I am with you. I am your Lord.

I read this devotional to the group while going up the mountain. God always seems to surprise me with the way He will speak to me. He knew that this would be the devotional I would read going up the this mountain. He had it all planned out.

At the top of the mountain was an orphanage situated in a valley. It was the most beautiful place I had ever seen. We visited with the children at he orphanage. There was also another group there called Kids Alive. And we meet up with them to take a tour of the Orphanage. I just could not believe that there was an orphanage on top of this mountain. One little girl just jumped in my arms as soon as she seen me. Then she proceeded to take off my sunglasses and she put them on upside down.

The kids were fascinated with our sunglasses. She then led me to her little friends and kept saying Americano, Americano. We ate lunch there with the children. And the Dentist that was with us gave all the children a dental checkup.

There was also a group of Wheaton college people there helping mix cement for a foundation. It was the Wheaton college football team.

It was an awesome experience. And I am very glad I got to go to see this orphanage. We defiantly had a very clear view of what God was doing here. The bright yellow home is where some of the children live.

When we got back the next morning I read my devotional for the day. And the title of it was called "A clear view" It was on the scripture Matthew 5:8 "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
It was about how Jesus chose a mountainside to teach His followers about the characteristics of a life yielded to God. There He taught them that attitude, not altitude, was the key to having a clear view of the Father. To have a heart that is clean in God's eyes, we need to accept the Father's pardon through Christ His Son. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse (purify) us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)
A mountain top is a great place to see the stars, but to clearly see God requires a change of heart-David McCasland.

So when I read this I was taken back for a moment. God had given my Matthew 5:8 several times in the past. Maybe God was trying to tell me my heart needed some work again. And it did. I felt convicted and repented for the things I had been holding in my heart. God got my attention with this mountain top experience.
Another experience we had was while we were on our way to a Haitian community. We were going here to put up a chapel and to do medical clinic. On the way there we went though more mountains. And it had just rained and we saw the most beautiful rainbow. It was a double rainbow. We were all trying to take pictures. So finally they decided to pull over and let us out and take pictures. It was so beautiful. We just had a sense that God was very pleased with what we were about to do in this Haitian community.

Before the trip I had dream. And in this dream God was also telling me to stay an extra week. I was only suppose to go for one week. But God was directing me to stay two weeks. In the dream I was trying my hardest to get on a flight to the Dominican the week before I was suppose to go. I just knew I had to do whatever it takes to find a flight there. And God was telling me that they were needing nurses in Haiti. And I was confused by this because we where not going to Haiti. But when I found out that we were going to be going to this Haitian community it all made sense. This is where God was talking about needing nurses in Haiti.

The next week there was a few people going back to one of the orphanages we had been to the week before. When I was there the week before one the the ladies that cooked for us said to me "I would like to see you here one more time." I said okay. At that moment I felt that God was speaking to me. I thought he was trying to tell me He wanted me to do one more trip to the Dominican. A few of the people that were going back to this orphanage that had not been there and wanted to see it. I was not supposed to go because I had already been there. But at the last minute they asked me if I would like to go again. They had gotten an extra car and more people could go. At first I said no. I was feeling rushed and I would miss breakfast. So they asked a couple of other people and they said no also. Then I thought well what if it was God telling me go. I thought about what the lady had said to me when I was there the week before. So I went back and told them I would go. I grabbed a pop-tart and my backpack and off I went.
When we got there one of the ladies with us gave all the children something to color. They were given rainbow's to color. And the message below the rainbow was "Every rainbow is a message from God." When I seen this I thought of the rainbow we seen in the mountains we passed through. I knew this was God talking to me. And this is why I had to go back. I felt that God was saying that "Every child is a message from God."

The children were just coloring their rainbows. It was really something to see.

About an hour after eating there I became very sick. One minute I was fine and the next I broke out in the this awful hot sweat. I felt my stomach cramping and I was very nauseated. I felt like I was going to faint. And we were about to leave. Well I did get very sick. And we were two hours away from were we were staying. The one thing I did not want to happen to me while I was there was to get sick. I had never gotten sick there before but I had seen other people get sick. So I always take antibiotics when I go. But I guess they did not work for whatever this was I had gotten. After about two hours I was feeling a little better. We were suppose to go the beach after we left there. I did feel well enough by then to spend about thirty minutes at the beach. That was after taking some medication. But on the way home I just started to feel worse again. And later that night I became much more sick. I won't go into all the details.

We were suppose to leave the next morning to fly home. I made the decision to tough it out and fly home sick. I went to the ER went I got home after getting off the plane. It was not a pleasant experience. I never want to experience that again. I spent about six hours in the ER. the doctor who treated me had been to several third world counties and he knew what I had. They gave me fluids for dehydration and IV antibiotics. That is not how I wanted to end my trip there.

When I got off the plane and my husband picked me up he was listening to an audio book called "Crazy Love by Francis Chan" when I got in the car I heard him talking about Isaiah 58. Which is the scripture that came up over and over on my trip. And then he spoke about risk takers. In this chapter he says "Haven't we all prayed the following prayer? Lord, we pray for safety as we travel. We ask that no one gets hurt on this trip. Please keep everyone safe until we return, and bring us back safely. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The exact wording may very a bit, but that is the standard prayer we recite before leaving on mission trips, retreats, vacations, and business trips."

"We are consumed by safety. Obsessed with it, actually. Now, I'm not saying it is wrong to pray for God's protection, but I am questioning how we've made safety our highest priority.We've elevated safety to the neglect of whatever God's best is, whatever would bring God the most Glory, or whatever would accomplish His purposes in our lives and in the world.

Would you be will to pray this prayer? God, bring me closer to You during this trip, whatever it takes.....

People who are obsessed with Jesus aren't consumed with their personal safety and comfort above all else. Obsessed people care more about God's kingdom coming to this earth than their own lives being shielded from pain or distress." (Crazy Love by Francis Chan)

When I heard these words, well it made me think. The one thing I did not want to happen was to get sick in a foreign country. But what if this was God's will for me? I know that when I was in the bathroom I was crying out to God to help me. I knew I was really sick and I needed God's help to get me through it."

It was the most wonderful trip for me. Despite the illness at the end. God spoke me in so many ways.

I am not sure what God had in store for me next as far as going back to the Dominican. This was my fourth trip. But if God calls to go again I will go.
The Sunday after I came back I went to Mass. The homily that was given by our Priest was on Genesis 12:1-3

The Call of Abram

¹ The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. ² I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. ³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

This is the scripture that God gave me when I went on my second mission trip to the Dominican Republic. The whole homily was on this scripture. I just had a sense that God was speaking to me here. He was was just letting me know that it is Him calling me there. It was just fitting for this to be the scripture on the Sunday after I get back.

There is more I experienced in the Dominican. I have more stories about the medical clinic's we did. But I will write another post about them soon.

My Devotion

2011-02-27T15:02:00.001-06:00

All my world
All I've lost
The wrecks I've made here
The lives it cost
Your hand restores
Your works make whole
With all my soul
I thank You
I owe You
All my...

Devotion

All that I have to give

Here's my devotion
You're all that it means to live

All my past
My tainted main
You stole its legacy
Of pride and shame
You're all I love
You're all I fear
I'm drawing near
To face You
To know You
To show You...

Devotion
All that I have to give
Here's my devotion
You're all that it means to live

You found me
In a shallow grave
You tracked me out from beneath it all
You healed me
Saved me
In the nick of time
Your perfect time
You found me (found me)
In a shallow grave (in a shallow grave)
You called me out from beneath it all
You touched me (touched me)
Saved me (saved me)
In the nick of time
In Your perfect time

I devote all I have to You
I devote all that You've made new
All You restored that day You bled
All that You brought back from the dead
All...

Devotion (You're all...)
You're all that I have to give
You're all that it means to live
Here's my devotion, my devotion
All that it means to live (You're all that means to live)

My Lord
My devotion

God's Love.....

2011-02-14T19:52:00.001-06:00

Unless you have received it yourself you cannot give love away. Let God love you. Receive His love for you. Bathe in it. Meditate on it. Let it strengthen you. Then give it away. Joyce Meyer

My Arkansas Trip home

2010-07-16T01:43:00.002-05:00

I just got back from visiting family in Arkansas where I grew up. I got to spend eight days there. It was a really good trip home. And we also spent a couple of days in a bed and breakfast just to get away for ourselves. It was a wonderful B&B. It was a house that was built in 1890. Our room was awesome with a huge jacuzzi tub. Which I spent a lot of time in. There was a awesome front porch swing and a very loving little black cat at the Inn. The B&B was in Hot Springs, AR near were some of my family lives so it was very convenient for us to stay there and visit family at the same time. During our time in Hot Springs we just kinda hung out. We ate home cooked food at a local restaurant. Shopped a little in Historic downtown in the little quaint shops there. And spent a lot of time on the front porch swing with the cat at the Inn. We also spent some time shopping at some local rock shops. I was trying to find some unusual rocks for a project I want to start working on. And I wanted some stones from where I grew up at. This project I want to start is about making crosses while you pray. So I found several beads, stones and rock from where I grew up to start my cross. The book for this is call Making Crosses it was a book my friend gave me for my birthday a few weeks ago.

The other time spent in AR was with my sister and my niece's and nephews. I also enjoyed getting to go to church with my sister, my sister's mother-in-law and my niece's. Also visiting my Mom and some of my husbands family. It was so nice to see them all. I enjoyed be able to spend time with my sister and enjoy home cooked meals while I was home. These are a few pictures from my trip.

This is the B&B we stayed at

The cat at the B&B

Me swimming in the Caddo River with my cousin. I grew up swimming in this river.

My Aunt and Uncle's house. This were I grew up. My grandparents lived her before my Uncle bought it after they passed away. And they built a new house there. It is a good place to get a way.

The Local Rock shop

Me and my family having dinner at my sister's

Family reunion with my husbands family

My sister and my two niece's

The Power Of Faith

2010-06-26T14:34:00.005-05:00

This Meditation of the day really spoke to me today.

We must, then, have faith and not be dispirited. We must not be stopped by any kind of human calculation. To overcome the obstacles we have to throw ourselves into the task so that the very effort we make will open up new paths. Personal holiness, giving oneself to God, is the one cure which overcomes any difficulty.

All Saints: the feast of all those who are already rejoicing in the sight of God. “Being holy means living exactly as our Father in heaven wants us to live. You will say that it is difficult. It is. The ideal is a very high one. And yet it is also easy. It is within our reach. When a person becomes ill, there may be no appropriate medicine. But in supernatural affairs, it is not like that. The medicine is always at hand. It is Jesus Christ, present in the holy Eucharist, and he also gives us his grace in the other sacraments which he established.

Let us say again, in word and in action: “Lord, I trust in you; your ordinary providence, your help each day, is all I need.” We do not have to ask God to perform great miracles. Rather, we have to beg him to increase our faith, to enlighten our intellect and strengthen our will. Jesus always stays by our side and is always himself.

Saint Josemaria Escriva

2010-06-15T10:54:00.005-05:00

I have been reading Psalm 5:3 a lot lately. This is a hard one for me. To rise early in the morning to pray and wait expectantly for God to answer. For one thing I am not much of a morning person. Most of the time it is praying in the evening and waiting for God to answer for me. I do try to get up in the morning but it is hard. I have never been a morning person. When I do manage to get up early before dawn and pray I like the quietness and I like hearing the birds singing. I do find that there is something special about praying early in the morning. But I find that I do most of my praying at night. I am a night owl. I love to pray at night. I of course pray through out the day also. They may just short little prayers to God when I am driving or doing whatever.

When do you pray the most? Do you rise early to pray?

Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

   In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
      in the morning I lay my requests before you
              and wait in expectation.

Psalm 5:2-3

Holy, Holy, Holy!

2010-05-12T20:37:00.002-05:00

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;

Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee,

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,

Who was, and is, and evermore shall be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide Thee,

Though the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see;

Only Thou art holy; there is none beside Thee,

Perfect in pow’r, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!

All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth, and sky, and sea;

Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty!

God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!

Lyrics by Reginald Heber

The Apostles Creed in Song

2010-05-04T13:08:00.002-05:00

I have never heard the Apostle's creed like this before. This was very powerful to me. I am so glad that I am Catholic now. I just love the depth of the Catholic Faith. I thank God that He led me this way. There is such beauty with the Catholic Church. I love just love it. I felt like I was in heaven listening to this video! And John Micheal Talbot is very anointed!

Confirmed Catholic

2010-04-13T13:52:00.002-05:00

Well it has been so busy the past month. I have had so many things going on. I am now Catholic. I was Confirmed at Easter Vigil. It had been the day I had been waiting for.

The week before I had a chance to go to San Antonio with my husband. He had some training there with his company. So I decided to go with him and not attend the Holy Thursday services with my parish. I thought I could attend one in San Antonio. Another couple went with us also. So my friend and I went to some of the Catholic churches there. We went to the Shrine of St. Theresa the Little Flower. That was special because she was my Saint name. The shrine was beautiful. I really enjoyed being there.

On Wednesday my friend took me to Incarnate Word University Chapel. We just wanted to go inside and look around it and pray. Well it was closed. So my friend decided to go down some steps and push the intercom button. A Nun answered and said that she would be right down. She opened the door and we asked her if we could see the Chapel. She said yes she could give us a tour. I had no idea what to expect. When I seen the chapel it was beautiful. It was one of the most beautiful chapel's I had ever seen. The Nun gave us an hour long tour of the chapel. Then I told her that I was being confirmed on Saturday. Then she said well I am the person who gets to pick who carries the gifts to the priest for Holy Thursday. And then she said "would you like to do that?" I said yes I would. So I figured that this is where God wanted me to spend Holy Thursday. I had planned on going back to the Shrine of St. Theresa for Holy Thursday. So I ended going here instead. I just felt God was working things out for me. So when Thursday night came I had to go to the service by myself because my friend was unable to go. When I got there the same Nun said"I would like you to do something else. I would like you to also carry the oil for the catechums" I said yes I would like to do that. So at the beginning of the service I got to carry the oil to the front of the church.

Then got to participate in the feet washing ceremony. Which I gave up at my parish to go on this trip. Usually they only pick twelve people to have their feet washed. But here at this church they let anyone come up and participate. After the service was over they had adoration. Only a few us stayed. So during adoration a young man and women began to sing the Divine Mercy. It was the most beautiful singing of the Divine Mercy I had ever heard. I felt as though I was in heaven. I was so overwhelmed with emotion. I just worshiped the Lord for about two hours. I could feel the presence of the Lord there. I did not get home until eleven that night. It was a wonderful night for me. It was really special.

So on Friday we returned home. I had to go and do my first confession. Then the next day I was confirmed into the Catholic Church. We had an all day retreat and then Easter Vigil that night. There was about fifty of us entering the Catholic Church. I had been waiting for this moment. And when I received the Eucharist I heard the voice of the Lord say "this is my solemn promise to you" and at that moment it all became very real to me. It was just a beautiful night. And afterwords we had a wonderful reception.

So now I am living a new normal with my faith. I have been going to daily mass. I can't hardly stay away. Being Protestant all my life this is something new for me. But I thank God for leading me this way. And I thank Him that I now know the fullness of truth. The fullness of His Glory. It has been a long journey to get here. But God worked through all my obstacles. At the beginning of this journey to the Catholic Church God just told me not to be afraid. To go forward. To make a decision and He would take care of the rest. And He did.

Do you want to be well?

2010-03-16T22:56:00.003-05:00

Today I was reading the daily Mass readings. And the meditation of the day was on "Do you want to be well?" by Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection. I really liked this reading. And often wonder why some people suffer more than others. Like my Dad who in 12 years had two triple bypasses and multiple stents placed in his heart, then a battle with skin cancer and had to have Chemotherapy. And then the last two years of his life suffered greatly with Pulmonary Fibrosis. And died at the age of 65 this past May. Of course I prayed and prayed for my Dad to be healed. He was healed. But not the way I had prayed for. I was praying for physical healing for him on earth. We don't always understand suffering here on earth or why certain people are not healed in the way we think they ought to be. I guess I will only know why my Dad had to suffer so much when I get to heaven myself.

And I have experienced my suffering in my own life. And if I would not have suffered then things I have I don't think I would be as close to God as I am now. The suffering and trials I have been through is what has brought me closer to God. All though they have been very painful I don't think I would change anything I have been through.

I liked what Brother Lawrence had to say about suffering and trials.

Do you want to be well?

I will not ask God to deliver you from your trials, but I will ask him earnestly to give you the patience and strength needed to suffer as long as he desires. Find consolation in him who keeps you fixed to the cross; he will release you when he judges it appropriate. Happy are they who suffer with him. Get used to suffering, and ask him for the strength to suffer as he wants, and for as long as he judges necessary. The worldly do not understand these truths, and I am not surprised; the reason is that they suffer as citizens of this world and not as Christians. They consider illnesses as natural afflictions and not as graces from God, and therefore they find in them only what is difficult and harsh for our nature. But those who regard them as coming from the hand of God, as signs of his mercy and the means he uses for their salvation, ordinarily find great sweetness and perceptible consolations in them.

I wish you were convinced that God is often closer to us in times of sickness and suffering than when we enjoy perfect health. Seek no other doctor but him. I think he wants to cure you by himself. Place all your trust in him, and you will soon experience the benefits we resist when we trust more in medical remedies than in God.

Whatever remedies you may use, they will only work to the extent that he will permit. When suffering comes from God, he alone can cure it, and he often leaves us with physical illness in order to cure our spiritual illness. Find consolation in the sovereign doctor of body and soul.

Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection

You Won't Relent

2010-03-14T23:35:00.004-05:00

Do you ever feel like God won't let go of you until He has your Whole heart? I seem to always go in search of other things I that I think will make me happy. More money, more material things etc.... When I know God is enough for me. I often struggle with this. And God I feel is breaking me of things in my life. To a point that makes me feel so broken in front of Him. I seem to fall more often than not in these area's of my life. God wants all of my heart. Why is it so hard to give Him my whole heart? Why do I go in search for other things? How can comprehend that He wants all of me? How can I comprehend His love? I have never known God like I know Him now in my life and I still go searching for other things. It says in the Bible that God is a Jealous God. He does not want us having other idols in front of us. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:4-5).

And He always calling us back to Him. He wants us to come to Him with all of our burdens and all of our problems. With all of our wants and needs. Matthew 11:28-30 ²⁸"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." He wants to be first. And this world we live in constantly wants us to desire more and more worldly things. And I am so guilty of this. And sometimes HE will gently remind me with a scripture. I recently was given this one last week after I had decided to take some items back that I had bought. The next day I received this. Matthew 16:26 ²⁶"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"

It is the season of Lent and I have just struggled with giving up certain things. God will not relent in His pursuit of His love for us. I love this song "You won't Relent" It is by my favorite Christian singer Misty Edwards.

2010-03-09T00:15:00.003-06:00

"Where as ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away." James 4:14

Last Wednesday I wrote about how I was missing my Dad. Well on Friday I received two devotionals about losing a loved one. One of the devotionals was about how death is not a period it is only a comma. I liked that. And the other devotional was about a gentleman who had lost his Father. And the scripture he used in the devotional was James 4:14. That was the scripture my Dad would always say.

My Dad suffered greatly the last two years of his life with Pulmonary Fibrosis. He lived on oxygen the last two years of his life. I watched him struggle for every breath. It was hard to watch him struggle for every breath. And he never really complained the whole time he was sick. He would just say we are only a vapor here. Here today gone tomorrow. So that is the scripture we put on his tombstone. I just felt God was talking to me in the two devotionals. Letting me know that my Dad is with Him. And this weekend I went to an awesome retreat. And I felt God speaking to me again about my Dad. And the words I heard this weekend helped. God is so good. He knows our every need. Even when you are missing your loved one He will speak words of encouragement to you. And it says in Matthew 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted." And God has done some comforting for me the this weekend.

Thanks for the kind comments on my last post.

I Need My Deliverer

2010-03-03T09:12:00.003-06:00

I have had a really rough few months and I need My Deliverer. I feel like I have been in the wilderness for a while now. I have been in some sort of pit lately. Think from the death of my Dad and some issues that happened with my family after his death. I have really missed my Dad this week. He died in May 2009. My family is still morning the death of my Dad. Especially my step-mom. It is just hard some days. And also I have just had some health issues that have just brought me down. And listening to worship music is the only way that I can get my self out of the pit I am in. Even when I don't understand what is happening all around me I still have to trust God. And and that hard sometimes. I just have believe my Deliverer is coming! And HE will deliver me.

2010-03-01T13:00:00.005-06:00

Today I woke up not in a good mood this morning. Mainly because I have been sick with allergies and sinus infection for the the past week. It seems I have been plagued with allergies since I have lived here in South Texas. It you live in South Texas it seems you are bound to have allergies. Every month since October I have had a sinus infection. And I have been on four or five rounds of antibiotics. So this morning I just felt like complaining to God about my allergies. I am tired of being sick. And I am about to start on allergy shots this week and hopefully that will bring me some relief. So after I wrote in my journal and complained a little I picked up a book that I have not really read much before. It is called The Everyday Guide to the Bible and the book just fell open to page that had this scripture on it.

It was Psalm 73:25-26

²⁵ Whom have I in heaven but you?

I desire you more than anything on earth.

²⁶ My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,

but God remains the strength of my heart;

he is mine forever.

Have you ever just opened your bible and the page just seem open to the words you need to hear at that moment? That is how I felt this morning. God knows how we feel and what we need to hear. That amazes me. He knew I was complaining this morning.I feel like I have been doing a lot of complaining lately. But I guess God does not seem to mind it. He just wants me to know that HE is there and won't leave me. Then after I read this I went to my computer and went to my blog. And I scrolled down to the scripture for the day that I have posted on my blog and it was the same scripture. The moment I read it I knew God was speaking to me. I think God is telling me no matter how I feel and no matter what sickness I have God remains the strength of my heart and he is mine forever.

Kitty Kat Wake Up

2010-02-26T08:26:00.002-06:00

I felt like I needed a laugh today. It's been a long week for me. Maybe you have had a long week too and just need to laugh for a minute. Laughter is good medicine. I love this video. I have three cats. And sometimes I feel like this guy in the video!

Rite of Sending at the Cathedral

2010-02-21T22:29:00.007-06:00

Today was the rite of sending for Catechumens and Candidates for RCIA. It was a beautiful day. And a beautiful ceremony for everyone. There was Catechumens and Candidates from all over the diocese there. It was a packed house today. The singing was just beautiful. Then they called my name to go up the he bishop. My husband had to push me up there in the wheel chair so he got to go with me up to the bishop. My sponsor was also with me walking beside me with her hand on my left shoulder. I got to met and hug the bishop. Then he blessed me and prayed for healing for my foot. I was't expecting him to pray for the healing of my foot. Then there was a time of adoration. It was a beautiful moment. Afterwards there was a reception for us. I was able to take a picture with the bishop. Then we ate and had good fellowship with some friends. It was just a great service.

How God Heals

2010-02-19T13:19:00.006-06:00

Sirach 38:1-14
Sickness and Medicine
1 Give doctors the honor they deserve, for the Lord gave them their work to do.
2 Their skill came from the Most High, and kings reward them for it.
3 Their knowledge gives them a position of importance, and powerful people hold them in high regard.
4 The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible person will not hesitate to use them.
5 Didn't a tree once make bitter water fit to drink, so that the Lord's power might be known?
6 He gave medical knowledge to human beings, so that we would praise him for the miracles he performs.
7-8 The druggist mixes these medicines, and the doctor will use them to cure diseases and ease pain. There is no end to the activities of the Lord, who gives health to the people of the world.
9 My child, when you get sick, don't ignore it. Pray to the Lord, and he will make you well.
10 Confess all your sins and determine that in the future you will live a righteous life.
11 Offer incense and a grain offering, as fine as you can afford.
12 Then call the doctor for the Lord created him and keep him at your side; you need him.
13 There are times when you have to depend on his skill.
14 The doctor's prayer is that the Lord will make him able to ease his patient's pain and make them well again.

Tell it all to God

2010-02-18T07:27:00.003-06:00

Last night I was so frustrated. I was frustrated with everything. With my foot and everyone around me. So I got my journal out and I just poured my heart out to God about everything. I asked Him to forgive me for complaining to Him but I needed to get it out. And then this morning I received this devotional in my email about "Tell it all to God." And this was the scripture in the devotional "Trust in Him at all times, you people; pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. —Psalm 62:8." So I know now that God does want us to pour our hearts out to Him. It has just been really frustrating with my foot the way it is. Not being able to do things on my own. And other things in my life right now. Sometimes life is just plain frustrating! And after I had written in my journal I put my mp3 player on and listened to Matt Redman's song Facedown. And for about an hour I listened to Matt Redman and worshiped God. Quietly. I just wanted things to be quiet. I have just felt a lot of noise around me recently. I wanted some peace and quiet. And the only way it seemed I could get that was to put my mp3 player on and tune out the world. And just worship God. And I felt so much better after that. At that moment when I started to worship I could feel His presence. It is quite wonderful when you are in His presence. And I felt so much peace at that moment. This also reminded me of Isaiah 26:3" You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you."
So I don't think I started Lent out right. But I felt like God was telling me just turn everything over to Him. And it seemed like God did not mind me telling him all my frustrations. I think He wants us to. When I got the devotional it just spoke volumes to me. That God really does care about our problems and frustrations and He wants us to tell Him about them. He wants to be kind to us and comfort us in our lives that are so full of stress. But I think I am going to have to work on the list I posted below for Lent. Here is the link to the devotional it you would like to read it. www.rbc.org/devotionals/our-daily-bread/2010/02/18/devotion.aspx

Lent

2010-02-17T17:30:00.007-06:00

I attend a women's bible study on Tuesday's night's. And last night they had a list out for things to give up for Lent. I thought it was a pretty good list. And I thought I would share it.

Give up bitterness; turn to forgiveness
Give up hatred; return good for evil
Give up negativism; be positive
Give up complaining; be grateful
Give up pessimism; be an optimist
Give up harsh judgements; think kindly thoughts
Give up discouragement; be full of Hope
Give up anger; be more patient
Give up pettiness; be more easy going
Give up gloom; enjoy the beauty around you
Give up jealousy; pray for trust
Give up gossiping; control your thoughts and words
Give up sin; turn to virtue

2010-02-16T17:17:00.007-06:00

Night before last I was praying. I was writing my prayer's down in my prayer journal. Lately I have been having trouble finding words to praise God with. In my prayer journal it has tabs for praise, admit and confessing sins, your requests, thanksgiving, listening, messages, old and new testament scriptures that speak to you and a place for proverbs. It is a great prayer book. It keeps me on track. Anyway, so the last few day I have been going to the Psalms for words to praise God with. And I try to find the words that really describe how I am feeling at the time. I have a copy of The Message Bible. I love how the message puts the scriptures. So night before last night my eyes fell upon Psalm 119:65-80.

65-72 Be good to your servant, God;
be as good as your Word.
Train me in good common sense;
I'm thoroughly committed to living your way.
Before I learned to answer you, I wandered all over the place,
but now I'm in step with your Word.
You are good, and the source of good;
train me in your goodness.
The godless spread lies about me,
but I focus my attention on what you are saying;
They're bland as a bucket of lard,
while I dance to the tune of your revelation.
My troubles turned out all for the best—
they forced me to learn from your textbook.
Truth from your mouth means more to me
than striking it rich in a gold mine.
73-80 With your very own hands you formed me;

now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you.

When they see me waiting, expecting your Word,

those who fear you will take heart and be glad.

I can see now, God, that your decisions are right;

your testing has taught me what's true and right.

Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight!

just the way you promised.
Now comfort me so I can live, really live;
your revelation is the tune I dance to.
Let the fast-talking tricksters be exposed as frauds;
they tried to sell me a bill of goods,
but I kept my mind fixed on your counsel.
Let those who fear you turn to me
for evidence of your wise guidance.
And let me live whole and holy, soul and body,
so I can always walk with my head held high.

What it said really spoke to me. And yesterday I was reading my Magnificat. When I came to the reading in Psalms it was the same Psalm I had prayed the night before. In the Magnificat the reading was Psalm 119:67,68,71,72,75,76.

67 Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I hold to your promise.
68 You are good and bountiful; teach me your statutes.
71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.
72 The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces.
75 I know, O Lord, that your ordinances are just, and in your faithfulness you have afflicted me.
76 Let your kindness comfort me according to your promise to you servants.

I had to read it again to make sure I was reading this correctly. I could not believe I was reading the same thing I had prayed the night before. God is so good. What I thought was my own thoughts was actually the Holy Spirit guiding me to this scripture. God knew that this would be my devotional reading the next day. And He wanted to speak somthing to me. It spoke volumes to me. It spoke to me because I have been though so much with my back injury in 2005, my recent heart procedure, my foot surgery, and I have dealt with migraines for about 12 years. All these afflictions have caused me to seek God. After the back injury is when I really started seeking after God. Had it not been for all these afflictions I am not sure I would have sought after God the way I have the past five years. So I know God is trying to tell me something with these scriptures. God simply amazes me. And I love Him so much. He amazes me with how much He loves me. And how much He desires a relationship with me. God knows our hearts and He knows what we pray. He knows everything about us. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

2010-02-14T20:53:00.004-06:00

Well this is the second day after my foot surgery. The first night was extremely painful. I had never felt pain to that degree before. I was up over half the night crying. They really don't prepare you very well for the pain that follows this surgery. The pain really hit about 8 pm the night of the surgery. It felt like a ton of bricks was on my foot. At first I thought what have I done. What did I just do to my foot. That is how bad the pain was. I was able to go to my RCIA class this moring with the help of my husband and my walker. I chose to use a walker instead of crutches. Just because I felt more stable on the walker. I really did not care what I looked like using it. But after RCIA I had to go home. That was all I could do was the class. I did not want to miss my RCIA class. I barely got through it sitting there for two hours. I have felt somewhat better this afternoon. I go back to the doctor tomorrow to get my bandages changed and I guess he will tell me when I can start to walk again. It has just been a really hard weekend. But I know that God will get me through the rest of my healing in my foot. My prayer has been "God help me, God help me get through this pain." That has been my prayer all weekend. The pain pills really did not work as well as I would have liked them to. They are pretty strong pain pills. And they were making nauseaed, so I was having to take some phenergan along with the pain pills. Which made me feel even more light headed. So I have just felt really overwhelmed with all of this. I know that God is with me. He let know in His word that He is with me. It is just hard when you are used to doing what you want and you can't. I have had to depend on my husband all weekend. He has had to do pretty much everything for me. And I have probably tested his patients this weekend. But he has been there for me. Thank goodness. I could not have done this by myself.

My Foot Surgery

2010-02-12T19:56:00.003-06:00

Well today I had surgery on my foot. I had a bunion taken off. So I am recovering at home. I can't really move around too much. Thank goodness I have really great husband who has not minded all of my requests today. It is hard when you can't get up and do what you want. The pain is starting to set in. The pain pills take the edge off but they make slightly nauseaed. This morning while I was reading my Magnificat the scripture for today was Jeremiah 30:17 "I will restore you to health of your wounds I will heal you says the Lord." All the readings this morning was about healing. So I knew when I read this that God was with me. It was the perfect scripture for me to read this morning before the surgery. And the reading for tonight in the Magnificat was:

Isaiah 53:4-5 "4 Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."

Sometimes God uses doctors to heal us. One day I was reading my my Catholic bible and I was reading in the book of Sirach. I came across this scripture in Sirach 38. It talks about how doctors can heal us. God gave the doctors there knowledge to bring healing to people. I had never read this before. But I liked what it said:

Sirach 38:1-14
1 Give doctors the honor they deserve, for the Lord gave them their work to do. 2 Their skill came from the Most High, and kings reward them for it. 3 Their knowledge gives them a position of importance, and powerful people hold them in high regard.4 The Lord created medicines from the earth, and a sensible person will not hesitate to use them. 5 Didn't a tree once make bitter water fit to drink, so that the Lord's power might be known? 6 He gave medical knowledge to human beings, so that we would praise him for the miracles he performs. 7-8 The druggist mixes these medicines, and the doctor will use them to cure diseases and ease pain. There is no end to the activities of the Lord, who gives health to the people of the world.
9 My child, when you get sick, don't ignore it. Pray to the Lord, and he will make you well. 10 Confess all your sins and determine that in the future you will live a righteous life.11 Offer incense and a grain offering, as fine as you can afford.12 Then call the doctor for the Lord created him and keep him at your side; you need him. 13 There are times when you have to depend on his skill. 14 The doctor's prayer is that the Lord will make him able to ease his patients' pain and make them well again.

Now I was a bit nervous of this surgery a little. I have never even had a broken bone before. So I was not sure how much this was going to hurt. And I have heard a lot of people tell me this is a very painful surgery. I am just having a lot of throbbing pain right now. And hopefully it will subside soon.
But I had really great doctors. Both the doctors and the anesthesiologist are both Christians. My anesthesiologist also prays with his patients before the surgeries. My husband and I are also good friends with my anesthesiologist . So I am blessed to have christian doctors. I feel God has blessed me so much. Even though the back injury, my heart procedure and now my foot surgery. God has been a light in all the dark times I have been through. God has always shown me that He is right there with me. And I don't have to be afraid. Perfect love cast out all fear. God is perfect love. So I really should not fear.

So I am trusting God to restore me to health and to heal my wounds.

2010-01-25T12:08:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I had a procedure done on my heart for a arrhythmia. By the Grace of God the doctor found nothing wrong with my heart and I was able to stop the medication that I was on. I also feel God is really telling me to start an exercise program. More that just walking. I have to strengthen my heart so I don't end up in this situation again. So I am planning on joining curves on February first. But this is my testimony as tho what God had done in my life the day of the procedure.

Well I have to give all the Glory to God about my procedure. I had been praying a lot about this. After trying several medications that I really did not want to be on I decided to have this EP study done on my heart. Hoping that I could come off of the medication I was on. The night before the procedure I was praying and reading my bible. I was wanting to hear from God about the procedure. I was flipping through my bible when my eyes fell on Zephaniah 3:15 "The Lord has stopped your punishment; he has removed all your enemies. The Lord, the king of Israel is with you; there is no reason now to be afraid." So I meditated on this scripture. I also read Psalm 121 which God had given me before I went on all my mission trips. When I went to bed I just knew that God was with me. The morning of the procedure I went to read my devotionals that I get in my email. One from "Our Daily Bread" and the other from "The Upper Room." Both devotionals were on having second chances in life. The one from our daily bread was about the plane that went down in the Hudson river last year. I did not realize the January 15Th was the anniversary date of that plane landing in the water. It was about how they thought that they were going to die but instead got a second chance to live. And that God's mercies are new every morning. The other devotional was about how Jesus gave the criminal on the cross a second chance that he would be in paradise with Him that day. It also talked about how God gave David a second chance. And people that are in prisons can have a second chance. And all the other people in the bible that God gave second chances too. The bible is filled with people that God gave second chances too.

I just felt God was telling me that I was getting a second chance. That my heart would be healed. I also read in one more devotional ( I know I read a lot of devotionals) anyway it was in "Come away my Beloved" Part of it said "Love Me with your whole Heart. I am the Lord, your God. I have saved you and healed you, and you have much for which to praise Me. Never cease to keep a spirit of overflowing gratitude."

So after reading all these it was time to go the hospital. They hooked me up to everything. The doctor came in to say "hi" before the procedure. Of course he did not seem worried at all. He had his breakfast in his hand in a little bag and a big smile on his face. Then the Anesthesiologist came in and started to tell me how long the procedure would take. She said that I would probably be back there anywhere from three to five hours for the procedure. And She was telling me about how many catheters they would be putting in me. And that he was planning on having to cross the septum in the heart and that would take longer. It was the left side of my heart that was affected. And that I would almost defiantly have to spend the night. I have to admit that was the only moment I got a little worried. For a split second I got a little scared. I was thinking this sounds way more involved than what I had realized. Then Doug came in the room and I was telling him all what she had told me. At that point I did start to get a little choked up. But then I was okay after a moment or two. Then they came to take me back. They started putting on all these pads all over me that was very cold. And it already freezing in the room. Then they gave me the sedation. I don't remember a thing. I think the procedure lasted about two hours. The doctor went to go talk to Doug after it was over. The doctor could not find anything wrong. Nothing to cauterize in the heart. And they did not have to do all that they thought at first. That is why the procedure did not take as long. And I was able to go home that evening. Thanks be to God! The doctor told me to stop the medicine. I had been off it since the day before the procedure. So I have been off of my medication and I don't believe that I will be needing it. I do believe that God had healed my heart. That He was in the midst working everything out for me.

Now I had tried to schedule this procedure for sooner dates before the 15Th. But I could not do so. I believe God planned it this way so I would read those devotionals about getting a second chance.

So now I have to keep my part of the bargain and take better care of my heart by exercising more. So my heart will become stronger. And I know that God has been telling me exercise more. But now I don't think I have a choice. Our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit and God wants us to take care of them.

The devotional the day after the procedure I read in "Come away my Beloved" part of of it said " Be obedient to My command that you rejoice in the Lord always. Because I must become your one true source of life and joy. I allow the difficult circumstances to come. Through them, I test your love for Me"

So thank you for all of your prayers for me. This was a big deal for me to go through. By His strips we are healed! "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death." Revelation 12:11

What an awesome God we have!

I am off and running to possess the promises God has promised me! It's a New Year!

2010-01-10T14:52:00.008-06:00

After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' assistant, saying, "My servant Moses is dead. Now proceed to cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you, as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and the Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, to the Great Sea in the west shall be your territory. No one shall be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous; for you shall put this people in possession of the land that I swore to their ancestors to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to act in accordance with all the law that my servant Moses commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you may be successful wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful. I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."
-Joshua 1:1-9 (NRSV)

Quiet Walks

2010-01-01T17:42:00.004-06:00

I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore. Psalm 121

This is a scripture God gave me when I first went to the Dominican Republic. I know God was just letting me know that He was with me and I was protected. And He has given me this scripture on every mission trip I have been on to the Dominican Republic. Today I received it in another devotional. God likes to speak to me through devotionals. This devotional was about noticing God in the quietness of a walk. And the prayer on the devotional was for walkers. This is just how God speaks to me. I have know for quite sometime God has been speaking to me about exercise. And I have tried before to exercise and I start out good but in the end I end up not sticking with it. So today I felt God was telling to just start walking. So I did. I went for a very long walk today through my neighborhood. I had my mp3 player and listened to worship music and the bible. And God spoke to me while listening to the bible on my mp3 player. It is amazing when you are quiet and listening you can hear God speaking in a still small voice. That is usually how God speaks to me. In His still small voice. That is how He lead me on every mission trip. It is the most walking I have done in a while. But I think this is a good time to start taking time for a walk every day. My New Resolution I guess you could say. And walking is free. No gym to join. And you get to notice God in your surroundings. Today was beautiful here. The sun was out. In the mid 60's. I noticed everyone taking down all there Christmas decorations. There was kids playing. And birds flying around. I was tired when I got back. But it felt good I have to say.

God can make things New again

2009-12-31T13:33:00.015-06:00

God gave me this scripture today. I think it is an awesome scripture for the New Year Isaiah 43:14-21. God gave me this scripture twice in the last two days. And the prayer focus for the devotional that it came from was for missionaries. So it really spoke to me because I have been on three trips to the Dominican Republic since 2007. And going to the Dominican Republic was for me an act of faith. That God was telling me to go. All I heard was His still small voice that said "Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21

God is in the business of making things new again if you will let Him. He will give you knew hopes and new dreams. That is what He did for me. Never did I think I would go to the Dominican Republic. He gave me a heart for these people. And I love going there. God gave me a new life once I surrendered everything to Him.

Isaiah 43:14-21

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says-

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

"For your sake I will send to Babylon
and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians,
in the ships in which they took pride.

¹⁵ I am the LORD, your Holy One,
Israel's Creator, your King."

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says—
he who made a way through the sea,
a path through the mighty waters,

¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses,
the army and reinforcements together,
and they lay there, never to rise again,
extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

¹⁸ "Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the desert
and streams in the wasteland.

²⁰ The wild animals honor me,
the jackals and the owls,
because I provide water in the desert
and streams in the wasteland,
to give drink to my people, my chosen,

²¹ the people I formed for myself
that they may proclaim my praise.

Can you see the Glory of God?

2009-12-30T15:50:00.004-06:00

Psalm 19

¹ The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

² Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.

³ There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.

⁴ Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,

⁵ which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

⁶ It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is hidden from its heat.

Picture taken in Germany

Out of the Darkness and into the Light

2009-12-28T23:34:00.015-06:00

I know it has been a while since I have blogged. But I feel I should start again here. I have had so much to happen over the past two years. God has worked in my life mightily. Every day God shows me that He is there. In some way or another. God had done great things in my life. On January 1st, 2008 God started to heal me of my back injury that I had since November 2005. I had suffered from this injury for quite sometime now. And on January 1st, 2008 I was in my bedroom praying to God. I was reading in Genesis where is says God created us in His image. I had read this before but now I was reading it in a new light. In a way I had never read before. The words were alive to me. And I really believed it. That God made me in His image. So I prayed and said God I believe that you created me in Your image and I believe that you can heal me. Then I put my hand on my back and I felt something happen. I felt the power of the Holy Spirit come out of my hand and into my back. It felt like electricity going through me and I felt my back becoming stronger. And I also felt muscles in my back popping lose. My muscles were so tight in my upper back. And I felt them come lose. But as this went on and I felt the healing go deeper. I knew all the evil in me was being taken out of me. It is hard to explain. But I felt like death had come out of me. God had delivered me from my adversary. I had been in bondage for so long. And I knew this was God. And I feel I should start sharing these experiences so other people can know you don't have to live bondage. If just believe and trust in God and seek Him above all else He can heal you.
This was just the beginning for me. God had a lot more healing to do in me and He is still healing me.
Healing is also not always physical. And sometimes the emotional healing comes before the physical. God wanted to heal me emotionally as well. God has been working with me over the past two years with healing me. Physically and emotionally. And I am still on the Journey. God is not done healing me. It is a process. Sometimes a long one. I will write more about the healing God has done in me.

New Year's Resolution

2007-12-31T14:03:00.001-06:00

I get these devotions in my email. I love reading these everyday. This one really spoke to me. God uses devotions to speak to me. This is my New Years Resolution. If you like this please feel free to print it and sign it. The whole thing just really touched me. And I have had this verse on my side bar for a while. The verse Philippians 3:13-14 means a lot to me.

Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13b-14 NIV)

^{~~~ ~~~ ~~~}

When Saddleback Church celebrated its 25^th anniversary, Rick Warren called for a radical commitment from God's people — all over the world — to tackle the giant obstacles that keep people in spiritual darkness.

In this new year, we can “press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called [us] heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14, NIV). We can, once again, affirm our commitment to the work of the Great Commission. My prayer is that we will view this declaration as a covenant with God, promising him that from now we will do whatever it takes: anytime, anywhere, anyway.

A Call to Radical Commitment

By Rick Warren

Today I am stepping across the line. I'm tired of waffling, and I'm finished with wavering. I've made my choice; the verdict is in; and my decision is irrevocable. I'm going God's way. There's no turning back now!

I will live the rest of my life serving God's purposes with God's people on God's planet for God's glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.

Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying.

Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.

Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me,” character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most, and I'll give it all I've got. I'll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.

I won't be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I'll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me.

When times get tough, and I get tired, I won't back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I'll just keep moving forward by God's grace. I'm Spirit-led, purpose-driven and mission-focused, so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.

I'm a trophy of God's amazing grace, so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for everyday, and generous with everything that God entrusts to me.

To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I say: However, whenever, wherever, and whatever you ask me to do, my answer in advance is yes! Wherever you lead and whatever the cost, I'm ready. Anytime. Anywhere. Anyway.

Whatever it takes Lord; whatever it takes!

I want to be used by you in such a way, that on that final day I'll hear you say, "Well done, thou good and faithful one. Come on in, and let the eternal party begin!"

What does this mean?

Today, I affirm this commitment to God and submit to his plans and purposes for my life, no matter what it takes.

________________________________

Signature

________________________________

Date

Chris Tomlin- Fire Fall Down

2007-12-30T10:07:00.001-06:00

I also love this song as well and it really touches me when I hear it.

Hillsong-Sing

2007-12-29T22:54:00.001-06:00

I really love this song by Hillsong. I have posted it before but I feel like posting it again. It just really sums up how I am feeling and how wonderful our God truly is. God found me weakness and I was broken but now I can sing! How amazing is His love. I have been through a lot in the last two years but God has shown me that His love is deeper than any trial I have had. I am truly overflowing with His love. And so now I sing to Him!

Steve Harvey Introduces Christ

2007-12-29T12:23:00.000-06:00

I thought this was Awesome!

Garfield

2007-12-05T22:03:00.000-06:00

I thought this was really cute. Have you ever had a day like this?

My Sister's Fudge

2007-12-05T16:31:00.001-06:00

I am making this fudge for gifts this year. This is my sister's recipe. This is the best fudge I have ever had. It melts in your mouth. I like it without the nuts. Enjoy!

1 lb powdered sugar

½ cup cocoa (I used nestle's cocoa)

¼ tsp salt

¼ cup evaporated milk

½ cup butter (1 stick) (I used unsalted real butter not margarine)

1 tbsp vanilla (I like the imitation vanilla better than pure vanilla)

1 cup chopped nuts (optional) I like mine without

Combine sugar, cocoa, salt, and milk in a microwavable bowl. Stir together and place the butter on top. Place in the microwave on high for 2 minutes(I had to do 4 minutes until the butter melted). Stir together add vanilla and nuts stir again(it will be somewhat stiff). Spread on wax paper and chill in the refrigerator for one hour or freezer. Cut into squares.

The Star of Bethlehem

2007-12-04T14:06:00.000-06:00

Well I have not blogged in a while. I guess I have been doing some real soul searching lately. And I have to say that in the last couple of weeks I have found God in a way I never really have known. His peace really does surpass human understanding. While doing all this soul searching we recently watched a movie called The Star. It is the most amazing story I have ever heard about the Bethlehem Star. And how God used this man to find out what he did about the Star is absolutely amazing. Please if you can go buy this movie/documentary. You will be so blessed by it. It is truly amazing what Christ did for us on the cross and God's love is truly indescribable. This a the perfect movie to watch this month. You can go to www.bethlehemstar.net to read more.

I prayed God said to keep blogging

2007-11-01T21:11:00.000-05:00

Well after much prayer about things I feel I should not stop sharing my experiences with God in my everyday life. I have had some things going on in my life that has made me really have to spend a lot of time in prayer. And I have had to make a really hard decision in my life with my relationship with my mother. It has been a bit overwhelming the last few weeks to say the least. I really do not want to go into details about it but it has been very hard for me. But God really let me know that He is there with me tonight.
Tonight I went out with a friend and we went to a new store that just opened. And I found three Angels. First I found a book mark with Psalm 91:11 with an Angel on it also. This verse has been in my life for over a year now. So of course I bought it. Then I found a real pretty Angel pin that I will put on my badge for work. And the last Angel I found was and Angel made of pewter with a cross in the middle of her. Well this is a special Angel because when I went on my mission trip to the Dominican in July at the end of the trip I seen an Angel in the sky with a cross in the middle of her. And it did not dawn on me at the time but when I found this Angel tonight she had a tag on her that said she was an Angel of Healing. It just really spoke to me. And if that was not enough my friend wanted to go to another store right down the street before they closed. And when we walked in the door there was a girl standing there that greeted us and she said that the store was having a birthday party and that they were giving away birthday presents every hour and that this was the last present they had and that they had missed giving it away at the 5:00 pm hour. It was 5:30 when we got there. So she asked who was the first one to walk in the door well my friend said that I was. That was very kind of my friend to say that I was the first one through the door. I really don't remember which one of walked through the door first. But she knew I was feeling really down because I had just got off the phone with my brother in the previous store and we were discussing my mother. Well the lady gave me the present and when I opened it I could not believe what the gift was. It was a picture with the verse Isaiah 30:15 on it. If you read my previous post about our weekend getaway it explains that verse and how God put it in my life. I could not believe that I had just been given this and it was free. And it was a verse that really meant something to. It was like God being right there with me. I just started crying right there in the store. I think God was trying to tell my that the decision I have made about my mom is okay and that it will be alright. That is what my friend thought God was trying to tell me. I really believe in all these God moments. I really believe that God can speak to you like this if you are willing to listen. And not mention that me and my friend were suppose to have been at a bible study tonight and everyone canceled so we just decided to go to these stores and go eat. I think God had a hand in all of this tonight. It is so amazing how God plans things to happen in our lives. So I will continue with my blogging. I know that God will be with me though all of this that is going on with me. And for me not to give up so easily.

The picture I was given at the store for free

The Angel I found with the cross in the middle of her and the tag says she is an Angel of Healing

The Angel I seen on my Dominican mission trip with a cross in the middle of her. Can you see how this Angel and the Angel above look the same? And I can also see the Angel's face on my computer when the image is larger

The Angel pin that I will put on my badge for work

The bookmark with Psalm 91:11 on it and an Angel

My Last Post

2007-10-24T18:58:00.000-05:00

This will be my last post. I really like this this song and it is very fitting for me.

Part The Waters/ I Need Thee Every Hour-Selah

2007-09-21T14:05:00.000-05:00

When I think I'm going under, part the waters, Lord When I feel the waves around me, calm the sea When I cry for help, oh, hear me Lord and hold out Your hand Touch my life Still the raging storm in me I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord No tender voice like Thine can peace afford I need Thee, O I need Thee Every hour I need Thee O bless me now, my Savior I come to Thee I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain Come quickly and abide, or life is vain

Well things have been a little hectic lately to say the least. When it rains it pours it seems. So I have this CD of Selah and this song seemed to be the perfect song and a good prayer for me to pray for the storms that are going on around me.

Our weekend getaway

2007-09-05T12:33:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we went to a small tourist town in Fredricksburg, TX just to get away. We really needed this weekend away. We really have not done any traveling this whole summer(well except for my mission trip but Doug didn't go). And actually we did not decide to go until the last minute. I booked our room on Friday and we left on Saturday. I was actually surprised to even get a room so late because of the holiday weekend. Doug had actually tried earlier in the week to get us a bed and breakfast there but they were all booked the ones he called(he was actually trying to surprise me but that really did not work out). So I was not expecting to find a room at all but I had decided to call a reservation service to see if they had anything and they did. They had four places. Two that had Jacuzzis and two that did not. Well of course I wanted one of the ones that had the jacuzzi. One was a log cabin and the other was a guest house. So I called Doug to tell him what they had and I decided to get the log cabin. I love log cabin's but when I called back they had already booked the log cabin. That quick it was gone. So I chose the guest house instead. It looked really nice also on the inside. But there were no pictures of the outside of it so I was a little worried. But it was one block off the strip so that would make it really nice. We would only have to walk a little bit to get to the strip. Well when we got there I was so surprised how nice this guest house was. It was like it was decorated for me. Everything in there was perfect. Down to the lotion that was put in the bathroom. And of course I immediately started to take pictures of the room. The bed was gorgeous with a luxurious red comforter (red is one of my favorite colors). One of the things that struck me when we walked in was that there was a wood cross on the wall. Then I noticed they had left us a Bible by the T.V. I thought that was so nice. I just felt a bit of comfort. Then when I walked in the bathroom there on the wall was a picture with a flower and a verse on it. Well when I read the verse I really did not know what to think because I had read that verse earlier in the week. I had read it in my devotional that I read everyday called God Calling. The verse was Isaiah 30:15. And this particular devotional just seem to speak to me. And I have not been able to get it out of my head. Here it is.

Tangled Skeins

Isaiah 30:15 In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.

Feel that...trust Me. Am I not leading you safely, faithfully? Will you believe me, your Master, that all this is really to bring the answer to your prayers?
Remember that I am the Supreme Being who knows all and can control all.
Directly you put your affairs, their confusion, their difficulties, into My Hands I began to effect a cure of all the disharmony and disorder.
You must know that I shall cause you no more pain in the doing of it than a physician, who plans and knows he can effect a cure, would cause his patient. I will do all as tenderly as possible.
Tell Me that you trust Me in this.

I have learned over the past year or so that it seems when God really wants you to know something He will keep sending you the same verse over and over again in different places and different sources. So I felt that God was really wanting to me know this and I felt He was right there with me and that maybe He had a hand in me getting this guest house instead of the log cabin. The whole weekend I just felt His presence and his love for me.

One of the other things that I like to is go to book stores. We found a neat little Antique and used book store there just down the street from us. When I walked in I went over to the used religious books and there was a book that was displayed on the top shelf that got my attention. It was Billy Graham's Angels God's Secret Agents written in 1975. It got my attention because on the drive up I was reading that same book but it was his revised edition written in 1994. It was really strange that I was reading the same book that was displayed. I think God was just letting me know that He is right beside me. Well of course I bought the 1975 edition also. Along with a few other books. They also had a good selection of antique books. I love old books. And they had a lot of antique Bible's. I found one that was from Germany from 1828 written in English. Of course I bought it. It was only thirty dollars. Now the cover had to be held on with a rubber band but for the most part in was intact. I find it interesting to read Bible's that old.

The rest of our weekend was just great. We just walked up and down the strip, shopped and ate really good food. We found this place called the Old German bakery that served wonderful German pancakes on our last morning there. We had also spent a lot of time just in our room just reading and relaxing. I think that is the part I enjoyed the most. Nothing really to worry about all weekend.

We also took a Sunday drive to a park called Enchanted Mountain. It was about 20 miles away on a long winding road. When you get to the park it is just a huge rock. The most beautiful Rock I have ever seen. This was an amazing place. A lot of people climb this huge rock but I was unable to do so because of my back once again. But maybe one day I will be able to climb it. On the way back from that park we seen a sign that said Cross Mountain. So we turned off to see what this was. It was just a small mountain that had a large Cross erected on it. Well of course my husband says to me "come on you can climb this one it is not that far up" well I argued with him that it was steep and I had flip flops on. Well he talked me into it but I was not really wanting to do it. He did have to hang on to me part of the way because it was rocky and steep but I made it. All the way to the top. Now I have not tried to climb anything in almost two years. I have just about given up of hope of ever climbing anything again. Along with going to amusement parks and water parks which I used to love to go to. But this was small step for me so maybe one day I will tackle that Enchanted Rock climb.

Our last day one thing I did go and do was I went and bought a journal to leave the owners of the guest house. That was the only thing missing. I wanted to thank them for providing such a nice guest house. And also for putting the cross, the Bible and the picture with the verse on it. So I wrote a really nice thank you note in the journal and left it on the kitchen table.

Now I am at home today because I am sick. I think I have a horrible sinus infection. I called into work. I feel awful! I was not even sure I would even be able to finish this post. But I am quite bored today so I wanted to finish it. My head feels like it could explode. I worked all day yesterday with a horrible headache and it just got worse when I got home. I did not get any sleep last night at all. And Doug was up all night with me. So please pray I start to feel better. We are having Big Daddy Weave playing at our church tonight and I really want to go tonight. But I don't know how I will feel.

2007-08-23T16:46:00.000-05:00

Practicing the Presence
by Max Lucado

How do I live in God’s presence? How do I detect his unseen hand on my shoulder and his inaudible voice in my ear? A sheep grows familiar with the voice of the shepherd. How can you and I grow familiar with the voice of God? Here are a few ideas:

Give God your waking thoughts. Before you face the day, face the Father. Before you step out of bed, step into his presence. I have a friend who makes it a habit to roll out of his bed onto his knees and begin his day in prayer. Personally, I don’t get that far. With my head still on the pillow and my eyes still closed, I offer God the first seconds of my day. The prayer is not lengthy and far from formal. Depending on how much sleep I got, it may not even be intelligible. Often it’s nothing more than “Thank you for a night’s rest. I belong to you today.”

Give God your waiting thoughts. Spend time with him in silence. The mature married couple has learned the treasure of shared silence; they don’t need to fill the air with constant chatter. Just being together is sufficient. Try being silent with God. “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10 niv). Awareness of God is a fruit of stillness before God.

Give God your whispering thoughts. Through the centuries Christians have learned the value of brief sentence prayers, prayers that can be whispered anywhere, in any setting.

Imagine considering every moment as a potential time of communion with God. By giving God your whispering thoughts, the common becomes uncommon. Simple phrases such as “Thank you, Father,” “Be sovereign in this hour, O Lord,” “You are my resting place, Jesus” can turn a commute into a pilgrimage. You needn’t leave your office or kneel in your kitchen. Just pray where you are. Let the kitchen become a cathedral or the classroom a chapel. Give God your whispering thoughts.

And last, give God your waning thoughts. At the end of the day, let your mind settle on him. Conclude the day as you began it: talking to God. Thank him for the good parts. Question him about the hard parts. Seek his mercy. Seek his strength. And as you close your eyes, take assurance in the promise: “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4 niv). If you fall asleep as you pray, don’t worry. What better place to doze off than in the arms of your Father.

From Just Like Jesus
Copyright (W Publishing Group, 1998, 2001) Max Lucado

I love Max Lucado's Devotions. I get these sent to my email. And this just really hit home with me. Especially the part where it says give God your waking thoughts. I will just say I am not the person who rolls out of bed on my knee's. I can identify with Max here. And a lot of times I do fall asleep praying. And the last part really spoke to me about Psalm 121:4. For the past 3 months this verse keeps finding it way to me. Over and over again I hear it everywhere I go. It was the verse given to me before my mission trip and also while I was on my mission trip.
Anyway, this was just a nice devotion for me to read today.

Dominican Mission Trip

2007-08-15T15:45:00.001-05:00

Sorry this has taken me so long to write. I have had so much to do since I have been back. Anyway, it was a wonderful trip. We only had one delay going there in Miami. It was a five hour delay. Which caused us to get into the Dominican at midnight then we had another hour drive to the church. We finally get to the church and unload our luggage and finally get to have some rest. But by the time we got there I can't say that I really slept. Basically I just rested till morning. I did not get any real sleep the whole time I was there. The next morning we head down for breakfast. It was great. I love the Dominican coffee. Then we go to church service which was awesome. The moment I seen all the children I just began to cry just because I knew I was suppose to be there at that moment in time. God had brought me on this trip for a reason and I felt it the whole time I was there. The church service was great. Two little girls that sat beside me kept wanting to play with my hair. It was also Father's Day there and all the Fathers in the church sang for everyone. Everything was in Spanish but I could understand what was going on. Then after church we went to lunch. We had a great Dominican lunch at the church. Then we had a camp meeting. That is when we found out what group of children we would be with. And also met the leaders that would be with us. I really enjoyed getting to meet the people there.
The next morning we head off for camp. We had three charted buses waiting on us. There were 210 children going to camp. It was a two hour bus ride to the camp in a somewhat rural area. It was a beautiful drive there. As soon as we get there we head for the church for the camp meeting then lunch. At the camp they had church twice a day with Bible study in between and also time for playing games. I was the nurse there for all these children. Just a lot of stubbed toes, scraps, upset stomach, and bug bites. And we also had several of our people to get sick with some kind of bug. That was not fun having everyone so sick there. A lot of these children there just needed someone to love them. I had a lot of children coming back to me over and over again for the same things. They really just needed someone to be there for them. The pic's below are at the orphanage.

After three days at camp we went to an orphanage. This women and her husband have forty children there. They have all been abused in some form. The moment I walked in I just started to weep. I was overwhelmed. The woman Jackie said she wanted the children that no one wanted. Her testimony is really something to hear. She just depends on God to supply all of their needs there. We had brought lots of supplies there for them. A few weeks before I went on this trip I was given a verse. Psalm 121 which says:

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

4 indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

6 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forever.

My friend had given me a blessing ring on my birthday with this verse on it. I noticed the verse right away because I had been worried about traveling by myself. At first I was the only one going from where I live. Then later on that day my husband told me that my friend Ellen was also going to be going (he works at the church with her son that is how he knew before me). I was so excited to hear that. I was worried about all the traveling by myself with my back injury. I just felt God was hearing my prayer's. Then later on one more girl was able to come on the trip from here also. Anyway, that Psalm was also my Bible reading three days prior to me getting the blessing ring. I just knew God was watching out for me. Well shortly after we walked in the orphanage a four year old boy stood up and recited Psalm 121. I just started to cry. I was overwhelmed. I knew I was suppose to be there and God really let me know that. I did not know what to think. I mean why would he recite that particular verse? Only God could of known that. I have never really experienced anything like that before. We only had a short time at the orphanage but I left so changed. The faces of those children changed me. And my friend was video recording all of this at the orphanage and I have been watching the video over and over. I am so glad to have that four year old boy reciting that verse on video.

After the orphanage we all headed to a small resort close to the airport for some rest. Some much needed rest I might say. This was a wonderful resort and we really got to bond with some of the people we went there with. I met amazing people on this trip. Such wonderful people that love God. I just felt God's love for me the whole trip. The Pastor and his wife of the Church also joined us at the resort. Well God was not done with me at the resort either. I love taking pictures of the sunrise and so the next morning I was awaken by the air conditioner dripping on me like a river. The top of my bed was all wet. I thought I had over slept and missed the sunrise. So I jumped up quickly put my clothes on and grabbed my camera. I headed to the beach. There were a few other people already out there from our group. Anyway, I had not missed the sunrise. Just a few minutes went by and the sun started to rise. Well I had turned and looked to my right and what I saw I could not believe. I seen an Angel in the sky. I told the other person with me "look there is an Angel in the sky" I could not take my eyes off of the Angel. The Angel was there for about thirty minutes. She also had a cross in the the middle of her. I have never seen anything like it my life. So what a wonderful ending to a awesome trip.

I know that God is calling me into Foreign missions. It was that still small voice that told me to go on this trip. God is so wonderful and He is very real. I really felt His realness on this trip and it was unlike any other feeling I have ever felt before in my Christian life.

Back from mission trip

2007-08-13T14:46:00.000-05:00

I am still working on my post about my mission trip and my pictures. It is just taking me a while. But I should have it posted soon.

Blogging Break

2007-07-23T19:35:00.001-05:00

I will be on a blogging break for the next couple of weeks. I will be leaving on Saturday to go on my mission to the Dominican Republic. I have been planning on going on this trip for a couple of months. I have been on two previous trips to Mexico last year and kinda felt God was calling me into missions then. But I just kinda put going on another mission trip in the back of my head for a while. Then a couple of months ago someone had asked me if I was going on this trip to the Dominican at my church kinda out of the blue. Well a little light bulb went off in my head that maybe I should apply to go on this trip so I did. Well little did I know that they had been praying for a nurse to go on the trip and the people in the Dominican were also praying for a nurse to be able to come. So when they found out that I was coming they were so excited. So they were praying for a nurse to come and here I show up out of the blue. The lady in charge asked me "did you know you were an answer to a prayer?" I said not really. I was just in disbelief at first but then it suddenly all made sense to me.
I do believe that this is going to be an awesome trip. And I have had so many coincidence's happen the last couple of months regarding this trip that it can't be anything other than God confirming for me that I am suppose to go. And I have this feeling this is only the beginning for me in missions. I took a Huge leap of faith to go on this trip. So please keep me in your prayers. This is a week long trip. My husband is not going though it is just me and two other ladies from my church. There are other people going but not from our church. I think there are about seventeen of us going in all. God is so Awesome!!!

The pic is me with my cat snowflake at the computer.

2007-07-16T12:08:00.000-05:00

Yesterday after church we were invited to go to the Hillsong United concert in Houston at Lakewood church. Well that is quite a drive to get there from here. And that also meant driving back at midnight. Of course I said I wanted to go because I love Hillsong and the concert was free. And I just happen to be off today and I knew I catch up on sleeping today. But my husband had to be at work this morning a 6 am. But he was all for going. So five us jumped into our friend's truck after church and made a quick stop at Dairy Queen for lunch and we were on our way. We also meet up with some other friends in another city on the way there and they followed us. One of the guys that went with us knew someone there at Lakewood and his friend was able to save us seats. There were 16,000 people there. It was amazing. This is the church where Joel Osteen is a pastor at. This church is huge. I had never been there before. From the freeway it does not look that big but my goodness when you are inside it is incredible. Anyway, so the concert starts and is just awesome. They really rocked the house last night. If you have never seen or been to a Hillsong Untied concert there is a lot of jumping that goes on. Well there were 16,000 people all jumping in unison and well that kinda made part of the ceiling cave in on the second level of the church. It was not a huge section but some the ceiling tiles were on the floor and the rest of it was buckled. Well I think it was about midnight when we left and were all hungry so we stopped at Denny's and ate. Then back on the road for an extremely long drive home. Well our friend made it about an hour driving then he asked Doug to drive. So Doug and I hop in the front seat. The whole way home I am making sure Doug is not falling asleep. It was 4 am when we get back to the church. Then we all had to drive home from the church. Now I have had a sinus infection the last couple of days and I had a pounding headache on the way home. I felt awful. I was so glad to be home in my bed. It has been a while since we have done a spontaneous thing like that. I mean I had no idea that when I woke up yesterday that we would end up in Houston at a Hillsong concert. But it was a lot of fun. And not to mention I was the only girl in the group. There was eight of us that went. I am glad we went. I almost thought about not going at first because I knew we would be so tired today. And my husband only got about an hour of sleep then had to go to work. He was about fifteen minutes late to work I think. And I slept to almost noon. But it was worth it. It was just a great night of Glorifying God and Magnifying His name. The song Savior King is one of my favorite along with Fire Fall Down. When you are worshiping God and you feel his presence there is nothing like it especially when there are 16,000 and you are all in unison. It is an amazing feeling. And all of that is just a glimpse of what God has in store for us in Heaven. I often wonder what it will be like to be in the actual presence with God in Heaven. My little mind can't seem to comprehend that thought.

Building 429 Concert

2007-07-02T22:01:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we went to the Building 429 Concert. Our band from our church also played before Building 429 came on. It was a great night of listening to Christian Rock music and worshiping God.

2007-06-18T12:59:00.000-05:00

Our Day at the Beach

2007-06-17T21:30:00.000-05:00

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;I will counsel you and watch over you. Psalm 32:8

2007-06-13T11:41:00.000-05:00

I found this sermon by Pastor David Dykes of Green Acres Baptist Church on another website and it was just so powerful to me about how God will answer prayer and it is all in his timing. I can look back in my life and see how God was working in my life and answering prayer's for me. Even when I thought He was nowhere in sight.

There was a South American lady who had become a believer in God and every year on her birthday, she would tell God that she believes in Him, but asked that He would send someone to her to tell her of His works. This went on for many years, and no one ever showed up. She had now become quite elderly, but she had maintained her faith over the years. On this birthday, there came a knock at her door. When she opened the door, a young gentleman stood there, and he introduced himself as a missionary who had just moved into the country from the United States. He asked her if she had time for him to discuss God with her. She became very excited, and exclaimed to him what a miracle he was, because she had been praying for 30 years that God would send someone to her doorstep, and there he stood on her birthday. The gentleman replied in almost disbelief. "This is a miracle. Today is my birthday, and I just turned 30." The very year she prayed for the first time, God had put his plan into action.

Where my Faith comes from

2007-05-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

I have not blogged in a while. I guess I have really not been in the blogging mood lately. I have been working a lot and just been tired. I have four days off this weekend. So I have caught up on some much needed rest. And it has rained here all weekend. Good sleeping weather. I really have not minded the rainy weather this weekend. It actually been kinda nice. I enjoy the rain sometimes. Anyway this is something I had wanted to do a post on for a while just have not got around to it.

This is a picture of my great grandfather holding his Bible. He was a circuit preacher. He would ride from town to town on his horse and preach at different churches. This is where my faith comes from. It was instilled in me by my grandparents and my Mom. I am so glad that my grandparents had faith in God which was passed down from my great grandfather. My grandmother would always ask us if we were in church every time we went to visit. And it just always stuck with me. And whenever I have children I plan on instilling that faith in God just like my grandparents and my Mom did with me. It is just awesome to think that my great grandfather way back in the late 1800's was able to affect my life today. I wish I could of known him.

2007-05-12T21:01:00.000-05:00

I got this meme from my friend Susanne and so I thought I would be brave and do this also.

1. What book are you currently reading or have just finished reading?

I am currently reading Angels living with us by Marie Chapian. I bought this book because I wanted to know more about Angels. And this book seemed to jump out at me at the Christian book store and it seemed to be biblically based. I had an experience a couple of months ago that just kinda made me want to know more about Angels.

2. If money were no object, where would you live and what would you be doing?

I would either like to live in Italy or in the Austrian Mountains. I would love to live in Rome. When we went there it was just so awesome and Rome is full of history. I really love the fact that there are no fast food places and at all the places to eat there everything is fresh. You can get on a train and go to another city quite easily. I found travel very easy in Italy. I love all the cobble stone roads and outside cafes to eat at. Something just happened to me while I was there. That was my first time outside of the U.S. and I loved everything I experienced there. I would also not mind backpacking through Europe.
When we went to Austria this past October I fell in love with the Austrian mountain side. There were mountains and valley's with towns tucked in the valley's. And rivers and beautiful trees. I would love to have a little German house in one of those towns. I have never seen mountains like I seen in Austria. There are no words to describe them.

3. Some people crave chocolate or coffee, what do you keep stashed for when the urge strikes?

I love Dove dark chocolate. I could eat the whole package. I keep a stash at work. I also have a love of coffee. But I tend to like it only when I am away from home. I hardly drink coffee here. But if we are traveling or out to eat I love to drink it. I like it with lots of cream and sugar of course.

4. What is your idea of how to spend the perfect day?

Sleeping in. I am not a morning person. I love to sleep in. And when I do wake up in the morning I just like to lay in bed with my cats and watch Good Morning America or any of the morning shows. Just be lazy. Read. Relax. Spend time with God. Read my Bible. Pray.

5. What spurred you into starting a blog way back when?

Well the first time I even heard of a blog is when my friend Kirby had a link to his blog at the bottom of his email. And during that time last year God had really started working in my life and I just felt I had a lot to say and to share about life. So that is how I got started. I was intrigued that there was this whole little world of bloggers out there sharing stories from their lives. I also have a love of pictures. Especially Black and White pictures. So This has been a good place for me to share my pictures. I love photography. And I have been so blessed by all my blogging friends.

2007-05-12T06:39:00.000-05:00

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17

2007-05-08T17:40:00.000-05:00

I received this devotional this morning and it really spoke to me. This verse Isaiah 55:8 has been showing up in my life over the last year. I like this verse. Two years ago I had no idea what God was up to in my life when he moved us here. But now I see why we were moved here. It is all clear to me now. He had plans for us here. Which that verse Jeremiah 29:11 is also a verse that I have been constantly reminded of over the last year. I just feel God working in my life and he is going to work everything out.
Anyway, I thought I would share this devotional. This is from the NLT website from a Women's Devotional.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Deliberate Trust

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,”says the LORD. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.” Isaiah 55:8

It’s not always easy to trust God. When I see where God seems to be leading me, I can usually figure out a way to get there. But it’s seldom the path that God has chosen. My path is quick and easy. God’s path is full of unknowns. It’s difficult to “set down my map” and follow God. I like my path. Sure, there might be some struggles along the way, but it will get me from point A to point B in a short amount of time. Unfortunately, I won’t be happy, and I won’t have become all that God desires for me to be. I think I know the way to go, but only God really knows. I have to trust him.

I can only begin to imagine what God has in store for my life. I can’t tell where he is sending me, but I travel in faith. I’m at a point in my life where God has called me to take a step of faith. I am learning to trust him day by day. It is definitely an adventure! There are days I start to fill with anxiety because I can’t see where he is leading me. I know in my head that his ways are not my ways, but it is hard to believe him. I pray for peace and faith each day.

Perhaps you are in a dating relationship right now and can’t see where God is leading you. Is this the right man for you? Should you be spending time with him? Pray to God for wisdom, and take it one day at a time. Perhaps your husband just lost his job, and you’re anxious about how your financial needs will be met. Trust that God has a purpose and is working in your life. It’s a humbling experience, but God can also teach you about true riches.

Now is the time to come to Jesus and trust him. Let go of the need to know the way. He is the Way. Allow him to lead you, even if you can only see a step at a time. For his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways aren’t our ways—they are better than we can ever imagine.

My Scrap Booking Retreat

2007-04-27T22:25:00.000-05:00

Finally here are my scrap booking retreat pictures. This has been a long week at work. This is the first time I have got to sit down and not having someone calling my name. I get pulled in all different directions at work. It seemed every time I tried to do something someone was needing me. And I have had something to do every night after work. I am drained. And tomorrow I have to spend all day in a class getting CEU's for my nursing license. It is like the never ending week! Well enough about that I guess.

My retreat was awesome. There were thirty women that went. This was at a church camp. It has been years since I have been to a church camp. I kinda felt like a kid again. We all sleep in bunk beds. And we also just ended up sitting in the bunk beds talking like we were teenagers.
I really liked the fact that there was a lot of devotional and prayer time in between all the scrap booking. When we first got there we had to find someone we did not know. Then find out things about them and make a name tag out of our scrapbook paper. We only had fifteen minutes to do this. That was a lot of fun and interesting. It was just really neat to meet and bond with that many women. It was a much needed retreat for me. Sometimes it is really nice just to get away from your everyday life and forget about the world and focus on God and friendships. I enjoyed myself tremendously. The camp we were at was beautiful. There was also a beautiful prayer garden. I got to take a lot pictures. There was a lot of wild flowers near the prayer garden. And the lake was beautiful. I can't wait till the next retreat.

2007-04-19T18:59:00.000-05:00

My friend sent me this picture of Snow in Texas. This picture is so beautiful. I thought I would share it.

2007-04-15T16:59:00.001-05:00

Surround me with your tender mercies so I may live, for your instructions are my delight.Psalm 119:77

2007-04-15T16:38:00.000-05:00

Filled with Your Glory by Starfield

In my heart, in my heart, there's a fire burning
A passion deep within my soul
Not slowing down, not growing cold
An unquenchable flame that keeps burning brighter
A love that's blazing like the sun
For who You are and what You've done

And as the fire is raging on
So Your praise becomes my song

The whole earth
Is filled with Your glory, Lord
Angels and men adore
Creation longs for what's in store
(Mountains bow and oceans roar)
May You be
Honored and glorified
Exalted and lifted high
Here at Your feet I lay my life

From the ends of the earth
To the heights of Heaven
Your glory, Lord, is far and wide
Through history You reign on high

From the depths of the sea
To the mountain's summit
Your power, Lord, it knows no bounds
A higher love cannot be found

So let the universe proclaim
Your great power and Your great name

Left to Tell

2007-04-07T21:02:00.000-05:00

I have been reading a book called Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibagiza. This book was recommended to me to read by a friend. It is about the genocide in Rwanda and how this young lady survived against incredible odds with God's help. I have never read something so powerful in my life. So the devotion below is so true. This girl had God's protection through the entire genocide. It was amazing. I could not put the book down.

Grace for the Moment by Max Lucado
I have given you power....that is greater than the enemy has.
Luke 10:19

Many players appear on the stage of Gethsemane....[But] the encounter is....between God and Satan. Satan dares to enter yet another garden, but God stands and Satan hasn't a prayer....Satan falls in the presence of Christ....Satan is silent in the proclamation of Christ....Satan is powerless against the protection of Christ....When Jesus says he will keep you safe, he means it....When he says he will get you home, he will get you home.

2007-04-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

This was last year at Sand Fest. I thought these two were so awesome. How wonderful that someone would do a sand sculpture of Christ and the Resurrection.
Matthew 28

The Resurrection

1After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

2There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

5The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you."

8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me."

2007-04-01T14:10:00.000-05:00

Today we went to the beach for Sand fest. They always have a sand castle building contest there. This year was kinda cloudy, windy and raining mist. But still quite a few people were out today. My favorite one is of Mary holding Jesus in the middle of my post.

2007-03-17T22:01:00.000-05:00

Doug has been doing some soldering on some cables for the new church. So I took a few pictures of him doing this. I thought it looked interesting. He looks so serious like he is performing open heart surgery. I like the magnifying glass in these pic's. I have a love of magnifying glasses. Whenever we would go to my grandmother's house she always had a magnifying glass there that we would take outside and burn leaves with. This always excited us to be able to play with it. It is so funny what made us happy back then. Just a magnifying glass and a leaf and a ray of sunshine. Hours of fun.

2007-03-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

This is a great website if anyone is interested in sending a care package to a solider. All you have to do is send an email requesting the name of a solider to sponsor. I have done this and it has touched my heart and the solider I am sponsoring . There is also a link in my sidebar.
www.troopcarepackage.com

2007-03-08T17:13:00.000-06:00

I liked this devotional. I found this on crosswalk.com

Streams in the Desert - March 8

When We Are Ready

"Blessed are all they that wait for him" (Isa 30:18).
We hear a great deal about waiting on God. There is, however, another side. When we wait on God, He is waiting till we are ready; when we wait for God, we are waiting till He is ready.

There are some people who say, and many more who believe, that as soon as we meet all the conditions, God will answer our prayers. They say that God lives in an eternal now; with Him there is no past nor future; and that if we could fulfill all that He requires in the way of obedience to His will, immediately our needs would be supplied, our desires fulfilled, our prayers answered.
There is much truth in this belief, and yet it expresses only one side of the truth. While God lives in an eternal now, yet He works out His purposes in time. A petition presented before God is like a seed dropped in the ground. Forces above and beyond our control must work upon it, till the true fruition of the answer is given.--The Still Small Voice

I longed to walk along an easy road,
And leave behind the dull routine of home,
Thinking in other fields to serve my God;
But Jesus said, "My time has not yet come."
I longed to sow the seed in other soil,
To be unfettered in the work, and free,
To join with other laborers in their toil;
But Jesus said, "'Tis not My choice for thee."

I longed to leave the desert, and be led
To work where souls were sunk in sin and shame,
That I might win them; but the Master said,
"I have not called thee, publish here My name."
I longed to fight the battles of my King,
Lift high His standards in the thickest strife;
But my great Captain bade me wait and sing
Songs of His conquests in my quiet life.

I longed to leave the uncongenial sphere,
Where all alone I seemed to stand and wait,
To feel I had some human helper near,
But Jesus bade me guard one lonely gate.
I longed to leave the round of daily toil,
Where no one seemed to understand or care;
But Jesus said, "I choose for thee this soil,
That thou might'st raise for Me some blossoms rare."

And now I have no longing but to do
At home, or else afar, His blessed will,
To work amid the many or the few;
Thus, "choosing not to choose," my heart is still.
--Selected

I Got Roses

2007-03-06T21:11:00.000-06:00

My wonderful husband came home today with these beautiful flowers for me. Now this was a surprise because I have not gotten flowers in quite sometime (like about 8 years). All I can say that I finally rearranged my book shelf by my bed and made it neat and tidy and I got roses!

2007-03-06T20:38:00.000-06:00

Isaiah 60:1-2

The Glory of Zion 1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.

2 See, darkness covers the earth
and thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the LORD rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.

2007-03-04T22:33:00.000-06:00

Caedmon's Call - Lead Of Love

Looking back at the road so far
The journey's left its share of scars
Mostly from leaving the narrow and straight

Looking back it is clear to me
That a man is more than the sum of his deeds
And how You've made good of this mess I've made
Is a profound mystery

Looking back You know You had to bring me through
All that I was so afraid of
Though I questioned the sky, now I see why
Had to walk the rocks to see the mountain view
Looking back I see the lead of love

Looking back I can finally see (I'd rather have wisdom)
How failures bring humility (than be)
Brings me to my knees (a comfortable fool)
Helps me see my need for Thee

This song is so powerful and so true for me. How incredible
what God has brought me through. And now I can see the
mountain view.

2007-03-04T22:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went out to the beach to watch the Lunar Eclipse. It was quite windy and a little chilly. But a beautiful day to be out on the beach. So here are a few pic's of the eclipse rising up over the ocean. Now these were not the easiest pictures to take because of the low lighting and the wind was blowing so hard but we had fun anyway.

Amazing Grace by Chis Tomlin

2007-03-03T09:47:00.000-06:00

I love this video!
Amazing Grace

2007-02-28T17:37:00.000-06:00

Exodus 33:19
The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh, before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.

My Day Off

2007-02-26T18:56:00.000-06:00

This is a great CD. I was off today and just spent time listening to Matt Redman. He sings about worshiping God Facedown. He also has a book called Facedown. When I loaded the CD on my computer there was an extra thing on there about the book. It had where you could read the first chapter. The first chapter was very moving. I think I will go buy the book. It was nice just to rest and spend time with God.

Footprints in the Sand

2007-02-24T21:42:00.000-06:00

These are my footprints in the sand. I now understand the meaning of this poem.

Footprints
Also Known As "I Had a Dream"

One night I dreamed a dream.

I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.

When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.

"Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."

He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, It was then that I carried you."

Our Day at the Beach

2007-02-24T21:10:00.000-06:00

We spent th afternoon at the beach today. It was about 80 degrees. The wind was blowing and the air felt crisp. Very nice day to be at the beach. The water was still a little cold. I took a lot of pictures. I hope you don't feel like you are in the movie Water World from all my pic's. It was nice to get out for a while and forget about the world. We went to Packery Channel. It is nice there. There are always people fishing. There also were some pretty large waves today. We got splashed a couple of times on the Jettie.

2007-02-22T19:59:00.000-06:00

As I was writing my last post my cat could not resist me being on the computer. He is so funny. It is just me and the cats tonight Doug is a the church helping with the new building. Anyway, it seems whenever I am by myself my cat socks just goes wild. Here some pic's of him being silly.

2007-02-22T19:03:00.000-06:00

I really like this video of Hillsong. The words to the song are so true for me. All I want to do is sing to Him and tell God I love Him. There is nothing like feeling his presence within you. Even when things around me are so crazy right now. I have this peace that is indescribable! That everything will be okay and work out. I now understand what having child like faith is all about. It was only this year that I began to understand that and especially in the last few weeks. I just know now that He will take care of me. It will not matter if I lose my job, my home, my friends He will always be there saying here is my hand, take it I will help you. How awesome! I want to know Him deeper every day. I simply can't get enough. His spirit dwells within me guiding me showing me where I should go. I am listening to his whispers and His nudges to go here or there. I am following His lead and I have been on the most amazing journey. I look back at my life and I seem to understand why this or that happened in my life to get where I am now. What an amazing journey. I felt God calling me as a child around five years old and I accepted Christ at 7 years old. I remember praying the sinners prayer and I remember shaking and tears running down my face. Now I can look back and see that I was destined to make it. It all makes sense to me now. God was there from the beginning and has been there all along. Amazing!

My Everyday Life

St. Therese the Little Flower

In the Silence of the heart You Speak

The power of prayer

A Time for Everything

A Place of Solitude

Be Still and Know that I am God

Prophetic song by Matt Gilman

God Sightings in the Dominican Republic

The Call of Abram

My Devotion

God's Love.....

My Arkansas Trip home

The Power Of Faith

Holy, Holy, Holy!

The Apostles Creed in Song

Confirmed Catholic

Do you want to be well?

You Won't Relent

I Need My Deliverer

Kitty Kat Wake Up

Rite of Sending at the Cathedral

How God Heals

Tell it all to God

Lent

My Foot Surgery

I am off and running to possess the promises God has promised me! It's a New Year!

Quiet Walks

God can make things New again

Isaiah 43:14-21

14 This is what the LORD says-

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

Can you see the Glory of God?

Out of the Darkness and into the Light

New Year's Resolution

Chris Tomlin- Fire Fall Down

Hillsong-Sing

Steve Harvey Introduces Christ

Garfield

My Sister's Fudge

The Star of Bethlehem

I prayed God said to keep blogging

My Last Post

Part The Waters/ I Need Thee Every Hour-Selah

Our weekend getaway

Dominican Mission Trip

Back from mission trip

Blogging Break

Building 429 Concert

Where my Faith comes from

My Scrap Booking Retreat

Left to Tell

The Resurrection

I Got Roses

The Glory of Zion 1 "Arise, shine, for your light has come,

Amazing Grace by Chis Tomlin

My Day Off

Footprints in the Sand

Our Day at the Beach

¹⁴ This is what the LORD says-